Digimon Divergence
by Kira Heartilly
Summary: A young teen collapses in the forest and finds himself in another world filled with mysterious creatures called Digimon. If he wants to get home he's going to need to work with his friends to find a way back. And he needs to do it soon. There's a mysterious virus infecting Digimon and turning them violent. And for some reason they all seem to want him. (Contains LGBT Characters)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon blah these disclaimers don't actually do anything but they're tradition so what the heck. The following is a fan work and not in any way official.**

**Trigger Warnings: Suicide, Self-Harm, Death, Gender Dysphoria, Low Self Esteem, Violence, Child Abuse, Vomiting **

**Author's Notes: Hello and welcome to my fanfiction. It's inspired by Square Enix's Chrono Cross, with lots of elements drawn from there, but hopefully with enough of an original spin to keep you interested.**

**My friends and I have a habit of sharing OCs so I would like to thank Arcana Force XIII Thanatos for allowing me the use of Haseo Misaki. Haseo, named after the character from .hack, has starred in many stories written by Arcana Force XIII Thanatos and his friends. If you want to see more of him, you can check out Arcana's profile or visit Twilidramon, on here or on FictionPress. Personally I recommend the Digimon fanfiction Digimon Rebellion and the original story Koukon Bridge. Twilidramon is also the owner of Loaño Ishida and KiddGarurumon, two other OCs scheduled to appear in this story. I hope you like them!**

**Prologue**

Naota Yamaguchi, thirteen-year-old freshman at McAlister High quietly slipped into the back of his second period English class, hoping nobody would notice him. They did. Some of the students' eyes widened in shock while others quickly turned away, trying to give him some privacy. Mrs. Raythorne, an elderly teacher with glasses stared in utter disbelief. Naota pulled out his copy of _To Kill a Mockingbird, _the class reading assignment, and grabbed his homework out from his binder. He waited silently, unsure of what to say.

He kept his head low, his curly brown hair hid his almond colored eyes, so nobody could tell that he was crying, just like the his red long sleeved shirt hid his arms. His already slim body seemed to have lost a few more pounds over the weekend and his face looked extremely pale. Even if the class didn't know what happened, they'd be able to tell something was wrong.

But they knew. That's why half the class stayed home that day. That's why they were shocked to see that Naota hadn't. Two days ago, on Saturday morning, Naota's friend Haseo Misaki had committed suicide. The young teen didn't have many close friends other than Naota, but the news still sent a wave of sadness and shock through the student body. Many students had taken the day off to recover from the news, though naturally there were those using it as an excuse to ditch. Naota's aunt and uncle had nearly forced Naota to stay home as well, they said he needed time to mourn, but he _begged_ them to let him come to class.

So that morning he took a shower, got dressed, and walked to school just like any ordinary day. Except there was no Haseo to great him at the gate like usual. No Haseo to partner up with in first period Science. No Haseo to discuss the weekend's reading with. There was a new RPG coming out soon and there'd be no Haseo to discuss it with. And now he felt terrible and there was no Haseo to confide in.

"Naota, if you need to take the day off and stay at home, I assure you, your teachers would all understand," said Mrs. Hawthorne. Her green eyes narrowing in concern. "Today was just going to be a review on the assigned reading which I'm sure you did fine on. And I'm sure the other teacher's won't have much planned either."

"Thank you," said Naota. "But I'm going to be fine." Naota stared with an empty gaze. His entire body felt hollow distant, like it wasn't a part of him, just something he wore like a shirt or shoes.

"If you change your mind, let me know," said Mrs. Hawthorne. She turned her attention to the rest of the class. "In light of this weekend's events, I understand if some of you failed to complete the assignment. Will those of you who have your work please turn it in? The rest of you may take a few extra days as you see fit. I will also permit you to skip this week's independent reading. Those who wish to may do it for extra credit."

In addition to whatever book the class was reading, Hawthorne expected each student to read 100 Pages a week from a book of their choice, though they were honor bound to pick something they'd never read before. He and Haseo usually hit the 100 page marks on Sunday. They'd had a little competition running. Each month the winner got to pick a book for the loser to read. This month Naota found himself with a huge lead, and he'd already picked out the book he'd assign to Haseo. It was a fun competition they'd started just a few months ago and Naota had a win loss ratio of 2-1. Now they'd never be able to play it again.

Naota handed his work to the teacher as she passed by. It was a worksheet on the weekend's reading. His hands trembled so much as he gave it to her that he nearly couldn't hold on. He didn't want to think about Haseo right now. He didn't want to admit how he felt about the whole situation.

'He felt guilty. He was guilty.

'_You might as well have stabbed him in the heart with a knife,' _spat a voice in the back of his head.

Naota's stomach churned and he dashed for the door, drawing every eye in the room as he hunched over and vomited onto the grass. He clutched his empty stomach in pain. He'd skipped breakfast and right now it felt like his stomach was being squeezed like a sponge.

The teacher quickly grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled on it with a pen. "Here," she handed the note to Naota. "You should go see the Nurse."

Sweat poured down his burning face as he accepted the note from the teacher. "Th," he murmured, unable to formulate even a basic expression of gratitude. His eyes dropped to the floor as he went silent. He gathered his things and started the trek toward the main office building where the nurse's was located. He could almost feel the eyes of every student turning to watch him as he walked past the half empty classrooms. He was used to unwanted attention, but this pushed things beyond his comfort zone.

Naota passed by Haseo's favorite water fountain, the one which had the best water pressure in the entire school. Naota preferred the one in the office, which had less pressure but tasted better and was always much colder. It was funny how all the little quirks didn't seem to matter in life, but now here they were, adding up inside him as he remembered his friend.

Naota barely paid attention the rest of the way. He simply handed the note to the nurse and sat down on a chair as she took his temperature and phoned somebody off his emergency contact list to come sign him out of school. Naota barely made an effort to listen as the nurse lectured him about the dangers of overexertion and not knowing your limits.

"I swear schools these days put too much pressure on you students. It's terrible! My daughter once went in to class even though she could hardly breathe! All because the teacher said he didn't want to give any make up tests! I swear it's these attendance policies. Would you like some candy dear?" She offered Naota a Twix. He whispered his thanks and shook his head.

Naota waited about fifteen minutes before his older brother, Daichi, arrived to pick him up. "Hey, bro, how are you?" Asked the older teen. Naota could barely look him in the ideas. Daichi had short black hair in a nice tidy haircut, a muscular build from years of baseball, football, and other sports, and wore a red jacket over white T-shirt and faded jeans. He had a bit of stubble on his chin and a square jaw, nothing like Naota who had a softer more feminine figure.

"I'm sorry," Naota said, "I hope you didn't have to leave class early." Daichi was taking classes at the local community college to get his degree. It was nothing impressive but he'd been doing well. He was still actively participating in sports, making both the baseball and football teams, though the sports teams of a community college didn't seem like very much. Naota was still very proud of him.

"Naw, it's not a problem. The teacher was giving a boring lecture anyway. I'd rather get kicked in the nuts than stay for another minute." He said with a laugh. "Anyway I got you signed out, so we can get going. You wanna go home? Or you want to get something to eat first?"

"I can walk home," Naota assured him. "You don't have to worry about me."

Daichi shook his head and smiled. "Nice try kid, but you're sick. That means I'm going to be watching over you like a hawk today. So, what do you want? Relaxation at home? Fresh air? A trip to the mall to perk your spirits up?"

"I just want to go home today," Naota said. "So I can take a nap." His brother gave him a worried look of empathy as he lead the younger boy out to the car. Daichi drove a second hand car that showed a bit of rust here and there on the red paint, seemed to function fine. It got great gas mileage and the AC and radio both worked well. Daichi had saved a bit of money from his job at college and installed a first class sound system. Normally he'd be blaring some popular new tune, but today the stereo was silent.

"Hey, Naota, look, remember when mom and dad died? You shut yourself away for months and wouldn't talk to anyone. I, I really don't want that to happen again. If you need to talk to somebody about Haseo, you can talk to me. And there's Dan, Hikaru, even Ham."

Naota stared at his feet as he wiggled them. "I'll be fine, I promise." He twiddled his fingers. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure, Naota?" Daichi kept his eyes focused on the road as he drove. "Because you've talking in your sleep. You keep saying 'I'm sorry, Haseo.'" Daichi bit his lower lip. "Look, whatever happened, you can't blame yourself for what happened. You can't always see these things coming, and even if you can, you can't always stop it."

Naota didn't say anything. He simply looked out the window at the buildings passing by._ Crossfield, _was a small city with not much going for it. Sure there were places to hang out: parks, malls, bookstores, but there was absolutely nothing exciting here. Sometimes he dreamed of running away to bigger places. Right now he wanted to run away more than ever. Forget the town, forget the people, forget Haseo, and forget his guilt.

But he'd never be able to forget Haseo. Naota wasn't the type to _ever_ let go of anyone he'd lost.

He barely noticed his brother speaking to him and simply nodded along when it felt appropriate. It didn't take much longer before his brother pulled into the driveway of their house. It was a simple house on a simple street, with overgrown grass and a garage big enough for the family's two cars. They had a washer but no dryer and instead had to hang their clothes up on a line in the backyard. Naota had been a little embarrassed at first, but had adjusted.

The pavement was cracked with weeds pushing through, and a basketball hoop hung over the garage door. Dan and Daichi preferred other sports, but they weren't opposed to a good game of basketball now and then.

The house was a single story high, with three bedrooms. That left one for Naota's aunt and uncle, one for Hikaru, and one that Naota shared with Daichi and Dan. It was usually a mess, with dirty underwear and other laundry carelessly tossed aside, and Naota occasionally found himself waiting patiently outside when one of the other boys had a girl over, but he was happy his aunt and uncle had taken him in. They didn't make much, his uncle ran a small video game store at the mall and his aunt taught math at a local middle school, but they got by and supported the four teenagers.

Naota trudged into his room which currently smelled like a pig sty. He stepped over a pile of sweaty clothes and sat on his bed. He listened to the hum of his fan as his brother stood in the doorway, watching over him. "You want me to go to the store and get you anything? Some ice cream?"

Naota shook his head. "No thanks, I'm fine." He walked to his closet to grab a laundry basket and began gathering the laundry from the floor. "This place is a mess," he said. "I'm going to go clean up." He gathered the underwear, pants, shorts, shirts, and snatched Daichi's dirty jockstrap off the floor without so much as blinking. He tossed them in the basket and took them to the washing machine outside, grabbing some laundry soap and fabric softener along the way.

"Hey, you should be relaxing," Daichi protested. He tried to snatch the basket away but Naota kept it out of reach. "Or resting. Let me do the laundry."

Naota opened the cover and began throwing clothes inside. "I need to focus on something that will distract me. He poured in the soap and closed the cover as the water began filling up. "But you can help me grab some sheets from the closet." Naota searched the hallway closet for more bed sheets and found some next to the pillow covers. Grabbing those as well he walked to the shared bedroom and began stripping the beds. "When was the last time you and Dan changed your sheets anyway?" He asked as he put the new ones on. "These feel like they've been soaked with sweat." He didn't embarrass his brother by mentioning the stains. He took the sheets and pillow slips out to the washer and dumped them on top of the clothes that couldn't fit into the first load.

"We can do this some other time you know," Daichi protested. Truth be told he hated doing the laundry and usually let it pile up until Naota or somebody else took care of it for him. Dan was the same way. And he'd never once changed his sheets himself. Naota did that too.

Naota turned on the TV for some background noise as he grabbed the vacuum cleaner and started working on the parlor. Some local news program talked about the disappearance of a teenage girl, a commercial aired for the new _Shinigami Conglomerate _video game that Naota already owned, and a commercial featuring a hit song by pop sensation Hazuki advertised new cars being made by _Akimoto Industries._

Naota bit his lip. "You okay?" Daichi asked him for the umpteenth time that day.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Naota said as he shook his head ever so slightly. He caught himself and stopped. If Daichi noticed he didn't let on. "Going to vacuum the room next."

"I still think you should be playing a video game or something," Daichi protested. Naota ignored the comment and continued his mission to clean the house, after quickly darting outside to add fabric softener to the laundry.

The three boys had to share a TV, which meant gaming sometimes became a hassle. Luckily for Naota, his roommates were both athletic jocks who preferred to be outside on a sunny day then inside. That didn't stop them from making a bit of a mess though. He picked up their Xbox 360 Controllers from the floor and stowed those away, then gathered their games together and put them neatly on the shelf. Next he organized their strategy guides. Daichi sighed in protest as he helped. When they finally finished Naota began vacuuming.

"If you want to go hang out with your friends, I'll be fine," Naota promised. "Weren't you planning to hang out with Ross and Ham today?" Ross and Ham were Daichi's friends from high school, they were on the baseball and football teams alongside him. Naota and Ross got along fairly well and Ham was one of Naota's best friends next to Haseo.

"Yeah, but not till later. Ross wanted to hang out with Yuki and Justin wanted to hang out with us too." Justin and Yuki were still in High School so they wouldn't be free until later in the day. Justin was the youngest of the group, just a bit older than Naota, and really friendly. Yuki was polite, but Naota barely knew him. "Though Ham might be dropping by. He said to let me know how you were doing. I told him I was pulling you out of school. He said he'd try to swing by if he could."

Naota finished vacuuming the room just in time to rush outside and hang the first load of laundry and throw in the second. Daichi helped with hanging the clothes and made small talk, but Naota barely caught anything. They quickly finished their task and sat down in the parlor waiting for the laundry to finish.

The door creaked open and Hikaru stepped in, quickly followed by Ham. Hikaru Reinhardt, Naota's cousin, was fourteen, just a few months older than him. She had shoulder length dyed blonde hair, light skin, and wore a black T-shirt and red plaid short skirt. She carried her bag with her as she sat on the couch. "Hey, heard you weren't feeling well so I decided to ditch class. Ham saw me and gave me a ride." She looked out toward the back yard. "Tell me you aren't doing laundry. You should be relaxing."

"I tried to stop him, but he just wouldn't listen," Daichi explained.

"Hey, Ta-kun, how are you?" Ham sat next to his friend.

Hamlet "Ham" Malderess was eighteen, a bit older than Naota, just over four years in fact. That made things between them a little odd at times, but they got along pretty well. Ham cared for Naota like family. He had blond hair, neatly combed and parted to the right, light skin, and a muscular build. He had a strong square jaw, a clean shaven face that smelled like strong aftershave, and wore a leather jacket over his white T-shirt and faded jeans. His mother picked the name. She was a huge fan of classic theatre.

Naota and Ham had always gotten along well. They'd met soon after Naota moved in with his aunt and uncle. Being new to the town, he didn't have many friends at the time. Daichi, Dan, and Ham all played baseball together at the local park with some of their other friends. Every so often somebody would drop by to hang out with Dan or Daichi and they usually left Naota alone to go about his day doing whatever. Ham was the only one who took the time to befriend Naota.

Naota realized he'd been silent for more than a minute and his friend was still waiting for a response. "I'm okay. Just waiting for the laundry to finish." Naota grabbed the remote to change the station. He channel surfed for a little while before settling on reruns of _Gilmore Girls. _"Oh it's one of my favorite episodes. I like Jess."

"Didn't you have a crush on him when you were little?" Hikaru teased.

Naota blushed and said nothing.

"I think Dean's more my type," said Ham. "Well, of the guys at least."

"I have no idea what's wrong with you," Hikaru rolled her eyes, "obviously Logan's the best."

Daichi, being a heterosexual male, and having never seen an episode in his life, had nothing to add to conversation, so he simply chuckled. Naota smiled, obviously enjoying the conversation. Ham and Hikaru laughed as well, glad to see that Naota was finally finding a way to relax. They watched the episode, laughing at the jokes. Daichi needed a bit of an explanation on some of Lorelai's gags, but he seemed to be getting along just fine. Hikaru complained about the town's traditions being a little sexist and outdated but potentially interesting if they could be fine-tuned a little. Ham said they made him hungry.

It didn't take long before they had to hang up the clothes and toss in the final load, which consisted of bed sheets, blankets and pillowslips. Naota asked if Hikaru wanted to throw her things in, but she answered that she'd done them just the other day, they'd be good for a bit longer. All in all they had fun.

Until the TV began playing another commercial for the new RPG coming out soon. Haseo had expressed interest in it, he'd been really looking forward to it. This one featured the English theme, _Meltryosh, _by Hazuki, as the TV showed exciting scenes from the game. Haseo really loved that song. He had both the English and Japanese versions on his phone and he listened to them all the time. They were fun and fast paced and climbing to the top of the charts.

Naota fought back the tears but couldn't hold them all in. He ducked behind the couch sobbing as his friends and family watched with excitement. Daichi wasn't a big fan of RPGs but Hikaru and Ham both loved them. Hikaru had begged her father to break street date on this one, thus securing a copy for her and Naota to share. Hopefully they'd be captivated by the commercial.

Naota told Haseo how much he loved the game and even invited offered to let Haseo play it. But Haseo said that he'd waited years for this and he could wait a bit longer. Now he'd never get the chance.

'_And it's all your fault,' _sneered a nasty voice in Naota's head. _'You made him kill himself. You didn't just stand by as it happened, you made him do it!' _Naota listened to his inner voice as he chastised himself. His teeth sank into his arm and the pain managed to block out the voice, if only for a moment.

"Hey Naota, how is that game by the way?" Ham asked.

Naota dried his tears and popped up from behind the couch. "Really fun. You wanna play it later? Just bring your Vita over," he said with a bright smile. "It's kind of hard though, if you do it on a hard difficulty. You have to have fast reactions, so I'm doing easy mode." He usually preferred RPGs because he _didn't _need to react quickly, but he liked this one enough to deal with the challenge.

It turned out the station was running a marathon so they watched another episode of Gilmore Girls, stopping when it was time to hang the laundry. When they returned to the TV, Naota found himself dissatisfied. He loved the show, but he wasn't in the mood for TV. He fidgeted, and let out a sigh. "Hey, Daichi, can I go to the park?"

Daichi felt Naota's forehead. It was still warm. "Sure, just don't overexert yourself. You want to walk or do you want to ride?" The park wasn't too far, so walking was definitely an option. On the other hand, he didn't want Naota to overexert himself.

"I'll be fine walking," he said as he grabbed his backpack off the floor. "I just need some water." He grabbed a bottle from the fridge and emptied his backpack in his room, stacking everything neatly on as well as his PS Vita in case he needed to something to do while there. It seemed silly, walking to a park to read or play a game, but he wanted to be at that park right now.

Ham and Daichi were extremely athletic and Hikaru stayed in shape, so Naota had trouble keeping up with them as they walked to the park. He felt the cool wind on his skin, something felt a little off about the air. The sky seemed blue as ever, completely ignorant of the tragedy in Naota's life. He didn't care how cliché it was, he wanted empathetic weather. He wanted the drumming of thunder as raindrops drowned the streets. Instead all he got were a few clouds.

"Wow, it's hot today," Ham complained. He'd taken off his leather jacket and left it in his car, but sweat was still pouring down his face. He stripped off his shirt, revealing his well-toned body. He wasn't a body builder by any means, but he was muscular, with abs worth staring at. Naota tried not to, but couldn't help himself.

Then the guilt sank in. _'Haseo's dead and you're staring at another guy that way? He said you were his best friend and you always out him after everybody else.' _Naota bit into his sleeve when nobody was looking. His heart pounded, he didn't want any of them to turn around and look, but he took his chances anyway. Nobody did.

Akimoto Park welcomed visitors of all ages to its well-kept grounds. You could go for a refreshing dip in the swimming pool, or go for something more natural with the gushing river. You could hike a trail or explore the forests, or visit one of the many gardens. If you preferred sports they had a basketball court and a tennis court and even a baseball diamond. You could simply stop and smell the air, perfumed with the scent of flowers and trees and freshly cut grass. Or you could visit the playground.

Akimoto Park was perhaps the most beautiful place ion all of Crossfield, named after the Akimoto family who donated money to build it for the community. Or rather, a small part of the super huge family. They used to live in Crossfield before moving away.

Naota walked toward the playground. Like a castle built in the sand, a huge structure rose from the ground. There were towers built with swirling slides, monkey bars and jungle gyms, regular swings and tire swings, pogo rides, and a merry-go-round. Children laughed as they darted about having fun. Some got hurt and cried, but their parents rushed to their sides to comfort them.

Naota felt instead regret as the guilt surged up inside. He'd been here with Haseo just last Friday, the day before Haseo took his own life. He choked back his tears. "I'm sorry, I need to go to the bathroom," he said to everybody else as he suddenly took off.

"You okay?" Ham called out, chasing after him. Naota fled into the bathroom and Ham followed. "Hey, Naota, what's wrong man, you can tell me." He bent over and squatted next to Naota, who was sitting on the ground sobbing.

Naota sobbed silently, unable to speak. Ham simply waited at his side as the minutes passed. Five, ten, fifteen. Ham didn't say anything as he waited. He gently touched Naota's shoulder and waited to see if he gave any negative reaction. When he didn't, Ham rubbed his back to comfort him. Naota's sobbing eased up. He gasped for breaths a few times and looked at Ham apologetically. Ham gave him a tight hug.

"It's okay Naota. It's okay."

Naota finally got up and washed his face. Without saying a word he took Ham's hand and let the older boy lead him out of the bathroom. Hikaru and Daichi stood by the bathroom, waiting for his return. They didn't say anything and instead waited for Naota to speak.

All he said was, "can we go to the forest?" He looked at the tall sycamore trees. He'd been in there before. He loved the smell and the way the trees blocked out most of the sunlight. The forest seemed almost magical that way.

Nobody asked why, they just lead the way. Hikaru turned back to watch him for a second. "You feeling better?" She asked. When Naota said nothing she turned away, offering him privacy.

Ham grabbed his hand once more and stuck close by. Naota listened to the sound of his friend breathing and watched the rise and fall of his chest. For some reason it was calming. He listened to the birds chirping in the sky, the snapping of twigs beneath the group's feet, their footsteps, and the beating of his own heart. He'd walked through the forest with Haseo on Friday, right before they parted ways. It was the last time he saw Haseo alive.

He seemed cold and distant and broken. Like he was upset.

He felt Ham's fingers slipping away from him. He tried to reach out and latch on, but he simply felt air. His vision blurred as he began gasping for air. His chest grew heavy. The air seemed thinner. His lungs ached and burned as he fell to his knees, tears swelling up. For a moment the world spun around him as he fell to the ground.

Everything went dark for just a second and he felt himself falling. He could have sworn he heard someone whisper his name. Pain exploded all over his body before subsiding as quickly as it came. The light returned.

Standing up, Naota dusted his clothes off as he looked around and found himself alone. "Ham? Hikaru? Daichi?" He called out weakly. He spun around and saw that there was nobody there. Naota stumbled forward on weak legs as the world spun. His stomach hurt. He still hadn't eaten all day. He fished into his backpack for his cellphone but realized that he forgot it at home.

"Hey, is anybody here?" Naota's heart began feeling heavy. He crossed his arms and pouted. They wouldn't have just abandoned him alone would they? He made a mental checklist of anything he could have done to tick them off. Had he been too whiny lately? Needy? Clingy? Every time he tried to dismiss some notion as ridiculous, he remembered a time he could have upset them. Had he hogged the game too much an upset Hikaru? Interrupted Daichi's private time with his girlfriend? Been too neglectful of Ham?

He thought of all the things he could have done to tip Haseo over the edge. He sniffed loudly as the tears began welling up, but he managed to brush them aside. He was panicking for no reason. It wasn't like he was lost or anything. He could turn around and head straight home. Unless the others were waiting for him on the other side of the forest. Maybe they'd just gotten too far ahead without noticing he'd fallen behind!

Okay, new plan. He would quickly walk through the forest, check for everybody, then turn around and go home if he didn't find them. He started walking at a brisk pace when a branch snapped loudly. He looked at his feet. No branch there.

Naota heard someone or something growling from the behind the trees. A low guttural sound rang through the air as footsteps rapidly approached. The growling grew louder. Naota spun in fear and nearly fell over again. His legs wobbled weakly.

Then he saw a large red cat covered in a crackling fire. His heart nearly stopped and he almost screamed. The cat circled around him, sniffing the air. "Why don't you smell tasty?" He asked with a smug grin. "You humans are so naïve, putting yourselves in danger like this. It's been a while since I had a good snack." He raised a paw with three sharp white claws that looked like they could tear metal into confetti.

"Sparkling Thunder!" Bolts of lightning surged through the air, zapping the cat and pushing him back. Naota spun toward his rescuer and started to run, nearly stopping when he saw something that even more confusing. He regained his composure and ran toward his savior, a small red creature with blue stripes, he had nine tailed spread out like a peacock and long thin ears, almost like a bunny's but less floppy and more pointed.

Next to him stood Hikaru, wearing a pink T-shirt and blue skirt. "Where have you been Naota?" She said as she threw her arms around him, but quickly broke away. "Never mind, we need to get out of here now."

The cat roared in anger and began chasing after them, swinging his claws. Hikaru quickly pulled out her cellphone. "Hey, found him, he's in the forest, and a Lynxmon is after us. I don't think Elecmon is going to be able to hold him off for long." She turned to Naota as they ran. "What are you doing out here anyway? You know the wild Digimon have been getting violent lately! It's dangerous, you could have been killed."

Naota quickly assessed this situation.

Monsters were real.

Hikaru knew what they were and was obviously not as scared as she should be.

For whatever reason, she expected that _he _was supposed to know what they were.

Something was wrong here. Very, very wrong.


	2. Another World

**Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, I would be rich and my ships would have been canon. Or my Digimon ships at least. God I have such horrible luck with ships. Like, 90% of my favorite ones sink like the **_**Titanic**_**. **

**Author's Notes: I may have aged some of the characters up a bit for this story, since having them in college would be a bit more convenient. Though this does kind of throw a bit of a wrench in the normal workings of Naota's relationship with Ham.**

**All hail the Moinker!**

A robotic creature floated in the sky. He had a body made of white and gray metal. Arranged in a vaguely humanoid shape. It had long "arms" with no hands, a vague looking head resting at the top of the body, and a green stem in place of legs. It hovered before a gigantic tree with barren branches desperately clawing at the gray sky. "You appear troubled," he said with a metallic and hollow voice.

A young boy stood before him. He wore a black T-shirt clung to his slender body and silver hair framed his soft yet serious face. His eyes narrowed in contemplation. "I recently made a huge miscalculation. I'm not used to those. It cost me someone very dear to me."

"I've been monitoring all your companions and allies. They seem to be fine at the moment. One managed to fall off my radar somehow, but he has returned unharmed," the robot stated the facts with no emotion or empathy, but perhaps a bit of a quizzical tone. The boy had presented data that did not match up with the robot's own source of information. He desired clarification.

The boy pondered this for a moment, then brushed his silver hair aside. With a wicked smirk aimed at the robot, he narrowed his eyes like a snake and said, "sorry Drassy, I _could_ tell you, but where's the fun in that?"

**Chapter One**

Lynxmon chased after the trio with his fangs bared.

Naota didn't know a thing about these monsters, but he knew two things. This Lynxmon was fast. He was not. Ergo, he was screwed.

Hikaru, being somewhat athletic, could have easily pulled ahead of him and made it to safety. But naturally she was staying as close to Naota as possible. If she died here, that would be more blood on his hands. Not that Naota would have much time to feel guilty.

Elecmon kept zapping at the Lynxmon, but it seemed to do little more than annoy the creature. He roared angrily as he spat flames at his prey. Thankfully he had horrible aim and the fireballs exploded loudly but inflicted no real harm. They didn't even set the dead leaves on fire, nor did the sparks leaping off his body.

Naota found that suspicious, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth or question the rules of the magical monsters that were currently battling for his life. He'd sort all these things out later. If he was still alive of course.

"Wild Nail Claws!" The giant cat went into a frenzy as he swiped every which way. Naota stumbled on a bad spot of uneven ground and the cat's claws came close to his shoulder, nearly tearing him apart. Elecmon threw himself at the larger monster, tackling him with enough force to slow him down. Lynxmon's claws swiped harmlessly through the air.

They broke out of the forest and Naota received another shock. He didn't have time to enjoy the scenery and examine it closely, but this was definitely not the same playground he'd been at less than half an hour ago. There were also monsters. Lots of them. Though most seemed peaceful.

Lynxmon roared and people looked up in surprise. Parents rushed to their children and pulled them aside. Some ran to their cars to flee. Others dialed 911. Hikaru stood in front of Naota protectively. "Look, help is on the way. Why don't you run away now, before you get into trouble?"

Lynxmon simply laughed. "No, I want the boy."

Hikaru took a step closer to Lynxmon, staring him in the eyes. "Why?"

"There is something interesting about him. I can't quite put my claw on it, but I'd very much like a taste." He purred. Taking a step toward Hikaru, he raised his claw high above her head. Hikaru shot Elecmon a signal saying not to interfere.

"Hikaru, run!" Naota shouted.

Lynxmon's claws fell in a blur and cut into the ground, digging small trenches. Hikaru smiled safely, having easily dodged the attack. "Get over yourself. You're only a _Champion_. Even an unarmed human can at least evade your attacks."

"Howling Bust," began Lynxmon. He never got to finish his attack though. Hikaru smiled as her reinforcements arrived.

"Little Blizzard!"

"M16 Assassin!"

"Rock Fist!"

Ice, rocks, and gunfire rained upon the Lynxmon, pushing him back. He roared out in distress. "Bah, a few Rookies can't defeat me. It'll take more than that to scare me away." He reared up on his hind legs, preparing to strike.

"Sparkling Thunder!" cried Elecmon as he fired lightning into the air above Lynxmon. A new Digimon charged forward, jumping into the air after the sparkling bolts. He looked reptilian in nature with a blue tail and blue reptile feet. He wore red and black armor and a kendo mask with metal spiked on either side. He carried a wooden sword.

"Hothead!" He cried out as his sword burst into flames. It caught the current of lightning and began glowing white. Naota wasn't sure wood was supposed to conduct electricity that way, but it looked scary. A flash of light blinded Naota for a second as the new Digimon brought his weapon crashing down on Lynxmon's head.

Lynxmon roared in pain. "Fine. I know not to push my luck. Taking on five of you at once might be a hassle so I'll retreat for now. But mark my words boy, I will find you." He took off into the forest, leaving a stunned Naota to fall on his knees.

"Way to go Kotemon," said a human voice.

Without looking, Naota recognized it as Ham's. He took a deep breath and turned to see Ham running his way. He was wearing a red shirt and black basketball shorts and had a bit of scruff growing on his face. He looked like he hadn't shaved in at least a few days. "Oh my God, Naota, are you okay? What happened?" He threw his arms around the younger boy,

Naota froze, unsure of what to say. Clearly these Digimon were the norm here. If he admitted to not knowing what they were, his friends would be concerned for him. He didn't want to get dragged off to therapy or anything. Not that therapy was bad, he just preferred it to be under normal circumstances.

So he reviewed the situation. Either he'd slipped into an alternate dimension, fallen into a coma, or he had a chunk of his memory missing in which Digimon had come to the Earth and integrated into human society.

"It's okay you don't have to talk right now," said Ham. "We're just glad we found you. You've been missing for three days now. You must be hungry. Want to go get some food?"

Naota nodded. Then finally, for the first time, he looked up at his other rescuers. There was an icy blue lizard standing next to Yuki Miyashita, one of his brother's friends. Yuki had well combed black hair and wore a white dress shirt, beige slacks, and a red tie. There was no reason for his fancy apparel, he simply liked dressing that way. He was usually dressed formally unless at the beach, playing baseball, or exercising, though he'd been known to occasionally slip into a polo shirt on days where he felt like relaxing. He was skinny and pale skinned without much muscle to him, but he stood poised and dignified and truth be told he actually looked a lot more relaxed then what Naota was used to.

Naota's brother Daichi stood next to a small vaguely humanoid rock thing. Daichi looked different, his body looked a bit more muscular and his hair looked just a tiny bit shorter, though maybe Naota was imagining it. Still, if that were the case it would be far from the most.

Lastly there was a second lizard much like the ice blue one. His skin was a darker blue and it looked like a mosaic of sorts, or perhaps reminiscent of army fatigues. He certainly had a military theme going, dressed in combat armor and carrying an assault rifle. He seemed partnered with Ross Maulding, a young man with spiky black hair and light brown skin. He was skinny though a bit more muscular than his best friend Yuki. He wore a simple black shirt and camo shorts, though he'd been known to be fond of going shirtless. He had a mustache and some scruff on his chin that he rarely seemed to shave.

"Hey man, glad to see you're okay," said Ross. "We came as quick as we could."

Daichi looked torn, his face a contradictory mixture of relief and fear. "Are you okay? Did somebody hurt you?" He asked. He raced to Naota's side and hugged him tight. Naota could barely breathe, the hugs were starting to get to him.

"I, I'm fine. I think. I just," he thought out his options. Oh well, might as well admit _something_ was wrong, lest they come to the worst case scenario conclusions, Though truth be told he wasn't sure they could concoct any worst case scenarios worse than the real deal. "I don't remember. What day is it?"

"Monday," said Daichi. "You've been missing since Friday. We've all been worried sick about you. Aunty Rin and Uncle Arthur are still searching, we should call them. Dan too." He pulled out his cellphone and began sending texts.

So in this world there was another Ham another Hikaru another Ross, Yuki, Dan, another Naota and so forth. Naota rubbed his head in great confusion. Great, if they called off the search now and the other Naota died because of him, he'd have another life weighing him down and making him guilty. He hoped they did find him, even if that meant that things would get very awkward. He'd have to explain that something weird had happened and he'd been transported here from another universe. Or something. He still wasn't quite sure.

"I need to sit down for a minute," Naota said as he walked to the bench. Hikaru and Elecmon followed, but the others stayed behind. Naota eavesdropped a little, learning the names of his Digimon rescuers. SnowAgumon the ice lizard, Commandramon the military lizard, Gotsumon the rock, and Kotemon the kendo champion.

Elecmon sniffed the air. "Is something wrong, Naota?" He asked. "You seem odd. Different somehow. Like you're not yourself."

Clearly these Digimon were super perceptive. Naota cringed.

"Awww, whatever it is don't worry. I'm sure you're just shocked because of your missing memory. You'll get better in no time," Elecmon said with a huge grin. "We should go get some milkshakes or something, that'd cheer you up in no time. Or how about parfaits instead?"

Naota hid his grimace. God, no. Not parfaits. Not right now at least. "A milkshake sounds great," Naota said with a strained smile. He turned to Hikaru who seemed to be studying him carefully.

"Whatever happened, don't worry about it," she said suddenly with a bright smile. "We'll figure it out eventually. You're safe now and that's what matters. She hugged him lightly. "Your brother and Ham were both so worried about you. They stayed up all night searching when you first went missing."

Naota nodded, unsure of how to thank them. They may have been looking for the other him, but the gesture still made him feel wanted.

They waited around a bit longer, waiting until the authorities showed up to ask questions. They told the cops everything they knew, that a Lynxmon attacked Naota, and they assured him the Lynxmon would be taken care of.

The group split up. Daichi, Ross, Ham, and Yuki all had their own cars that they'd rode to the park as fast as they could when they got the news. Yuki was sixteen and was quite proud to just have gotten his license and his first shiny car. He came from a fairly well off family, so they bought his something worth showing off. Ross was quite proud to also come from a decently wealthy family. He owned a car, truck, and motorcycle. Ham and Daichi weren't as lucky and had to settle for used cars that thankfully ran quite well. But when Naota got to the parking lot he was surprised to see that his brother's car looked like it was in much better condition than he was used to, though it still paled in comparison to what Yuki and Ross drove.

Naota, Hikaru, and Elecmon rode with Daichi and Gotsumon. Gotsumon rode shotgun while Elecmon sat in Hikaru's lap. Naota watched the sights as they drove by. The city was bigger. There were more buildings and they were taller too. They passed the mall which had three floors instead of two. Naota caught a glimpse of the bookstore as they drove away, it now took up two floors.

They arrived at their destination, the local Moink, at around the same time. Naota's stomach trembled. He had a love hate relationship with this place. On one hand they were the cheapest fast food chain around with the best food, owned and operated by the famous Akimoto family, on the other hand it brought up very strange memories for him. Anything having to do with the Akimoto family brought back strange memories for him. It was strange knowing he'd once been best friends with a boy who came from one of the richest and most famous families in the world. They had their hands in almost everything. Publishing, bookstores, fast food, video games, cell phones, super marts, cars, banks, credit cards, manga, non-lethal weapons manufacturing, and just about everything else under the sun. Heck, Naota wouldn't be surprised if the Akimotos of this world had their hands involved in Digimon somehow.

Naota looked at the menu. Things seemed much the same except for the names of several of the items. A Chibi Moinker was now an In Training Moinker, a regular Moinker was a Rookie Moinker, Double Moinkers were Champion Moinkers, Triples were Ultimates, and the infamous Quadruple Moinker was now known as a Mega Moinker. And the loveable cow pig mascot formerly known as Moink now appeared to go by the name of Moinkmon. Or so said a display of activity books for children.

Naota had no idea why Mega was higher than Ultimate but he assumed this had something to do with Digimon.

He ordered a regular Moinker, or rather, a Rookie Moinker; one patty was enough for him. He asked them to hold the bacon which customarily came with it. Moink offered many kinds of bacon, maple, smoked, turkey, tofu, and offered veggie and turkey burgers alongside their regular burgers, chicken sandwiches, and fish filets. Their options made them legendary in the fast food world, as did their low prices.

Examining the menu again, Naota noticed that some of the prices seemed even lower than before. Their value menu offered burgers for only 60 cents as opposed to the usual 70. The Rookie Moinker Meal cost only 4.29 as opposed to the Moinker Meal's usual price tag of 4.80. The price changes weren't much, but they still stood out.

Everybody ordered their food. Yuki got a Champion Moinker while the other guys got Ultimates. Hikaru ordered a Turkey Moinker with Maple Bacon and the Digimon all got various orders. Ross paid for everything with a credit card.

They made their drinks and sat down at the largest table they could find. Elecmon hopped onto Hikaru's lap and began sipping his soda. Naota watched and waited, there were Digimon everywhere. Some came in with humans, others came on their own, and some were even working behind the counter.

Bacon sizzled and the smell of meat filled the air. Naota turned his attention to the television in the corner of the room, blaring some news story about a tournament for Digimon battles. Naota glanced at it, wondering if he could learn anything about these mysterious creatures.

Ham followed his gaze to the TV screen. "Yeah, no word on him after that whole fiasco."

Naota stopped to think about the possibilities. Apparently the other Naota showed some interest in one of the competitors. And there had been some sort of fiasco? _'Okay Ham was kind of vague, it wouldn't be too suspicious if I probed further right?' _He locked up and couldn't respond at all.

Hikaru rolled her eyes and sighed, coming to his rescue. "I get the concern, but I still don't see why the media made such a big deal about Yuu participating in a tournament. It wasn't even a big deal anyway."

Ah, that explained other Naota's interest. Yuu Akimoto was his former best friend from long ago, and somebody who still meant the world to him. The other Naota might have been a bit different from him, but he couldn't imagine any version of him that didn't still care about Yuu.

Elecmon nodded in agreement. "They were pretty ridiculous allegations too. Sure the Akimoto family helped with the creation of the Digital World, but it's ridiculous to think they would create a powerful Digimon just so Yuu could win some tournament.

Wait. Digital World? Helped create? Naota wished he had his smart phone. He could Google this and get some answers. Questions swam through his head and he nearly drowned in his own confusion. Naota turned toward the counter and saw a red lizard like Digimon putting a bunch of burgers on a tray. Okay questions could wait until after lunch. At least one thing was certain. The Akimotos had their hands involved with Digimon and he _totally _called it.

"Order 855," called out the Redlizardmon. Or whatever his name was. Naota couldn't see his name tag.

Ross checked his receipt. "That's ours."

Ross and Ham went to retrieve the food, leaving Naota with many questions to ponder, such as _'how does the order number system work anyway? They just called for 613 not too long ago.' _Ignoring the trivial matter he turned back to Hikaru and Elecmon. "I hope they're not being too mean to him."

"The media?" Daichi asked. "Well, you know how they are. Can't keep from prying into famous people's business. He's just a kid for Yggdrasil's sake."

Naota did not bother questioning why his brother had chosen to pepper his speech with Norse Mythology. Maybe Norse Mythology was more popular in this world!

Daichi continued. "well, I suppose if anything it's better than prying into his dating life, who cares if he's dating some ki, oh sorry," he stopped when he saw the look on Naota's face. "Right, sensitive issue. My bad."

Assuming _this _hadn't changed when he switched worlds, Naota knew exactly what his brother was talking about. Of course, it could have changed. After all, he'd already lost track of the things that had. He'd ponder it after eating some food. He looked up to see Ham handing him his lunch. "Thank you. And thanks Ross, for getting us this."

"Hey. No problem man." Ross said with a grin. "Hey, you okay, what's wrong?"

Elecmon offered Naota a look of sympathy. "Hey man, forget about Yuu and Aron. They're just kids, they probably won't be together very long anyway. I mean, how often do you hear stories about twelve-year-old soul mates."

Naota knew perfectly well that children who fell in love often didn't end up together. It's why he was heartbroken in the first place. All over some silly childhood crush. "I'd really rather not talk about it," he said to the floor. He took a sip of his iced tea. The whole subject was a majorly sensitive issue for him. What in the world was the media doing anyway, prying into the love lives of two twelve-year-olds? So what if their parents were from rival companies and their relationship could mean a potential merger in the future? Naota stared at the floor as he chewed his burger. That's when he noticed Ham's leg. It was scar free.

Naota rubbed his aching head. He had so many questions and no idea where to start. Digimon, the Akimotos, Ham, the missing other Naota, and just exactly what he'd do about everything. His heart pounded and his breathing got faster. He rubbed his wrists, trying to calm down.

"Hey, you okay, Naota?" Hikaru asked. "You need some air?"

Naota shook his head. "No, just a bit freaked out about everything."

SnowAgumon dumped a carton of fries into his mouth and chewed quickly before swallowing. "Do you really have no memory about where you've been these past few days? Maybe we should try retracing your steps. Or maybe we better not. I've heard rumors that some Digimon can mess with your memories. If you ran into one there's no guarantee that won't happen again."

Okay, _perfect_. An excuse for his missing memories. Even if it was another lie to tell. He wasn't exactly fond of lying to his friends, but desperate times were calling. "Where exactly did I disappear from?"

"The park," Ham answered. "You said you wanted to get some fresh air so you walked to the park alone. We were all worried because the Digimon have been getting violent lately, but you said you'd stick close to the crowds so you'd be fine."

"I really think we shouldn't go back there," said Yuki, "not as long as Lynxmon is around." He took a bite and swallowed before resuming. "We wouldn't want to walk right back into his claws. Hopefully the authorities will take him down soon. So maybe we should go back tomorrow."

Wait, the other Naota had been at the park on Friday? Naota thought about it. He'd been at the park on Friday. Maybe it was just a coincidence but maybe the two worlds were a bit more in sync than he thought.

Naota finished off his drink and stood up to get a refill. His friends and family spoke animatedly as he left the table and he knew they were talking about him. They were worried, was he okay? What had happened to him over the past three days? He filled his cup and began taking a sip when an image of Lynxmon appeared on the television.

"Authorities caution to be on the lookout for a rogue Lynxmon who has been spotted wandering around Crossfield. He is said to be very dangerous and not to be approached. Lynxmon is a Champion level Digimon and authorities are offering a 500 dollar bounty for anyone who can bring him." Footage showed Lynxmon tearing up cars and shooting flames at anyone who got near him. "Authorities say the instances of Digimon going wild has been sky rocketing in the past month or so. Other than a few villainous Digimon, they've never had this much trouble until now. The bounty system has been put in place, encouraging civilians with their own Digimon partners to help with the battle. Critics of the bounty system complain that this system encourages reckless youth to put their lives in danger to make a quick dollar."

Naota gulped as he walked back to the table. "Hey, don't worry about it," Yuki told him. "If he's gone this bad, then that makes him an even bigger priority than before. He's only a Champion, the authorities will be able to take him down in no time."

Champion, like the burger. Come to think of it, weren't the other Digimon around him supposed to be Rookies? Naota surmised that there had to be some sort of level system, and that above these Champions were Ultimates and Megas. He shuddered. Champions scared him enough.

Commandramon looked up at Ross. "I think we should ask your folks to buy you a Digivice," he said sternly. "You too Yuki. If SnowAgumon and I could Digivolve to our Champion forms we'd be able to protect you all better."

"I've tried asking," Ross said, "but my dad says he won't get me a Digivice until I start doing better in school. He says I have enough playthings. Honestly, it's not like I'm asking for a toy, it's for self-defense."

"My mom and dad said they'd get me one for my next birthday," Yuki said with a sigh. "So that's a bit off for now. Hopefully I can get them to buy me a Digi-Egg too, just in case I have trouble helping SnowAgumon Digivolve." He adjusted his tie and frowned.

Naota really wished he had his cellphone so that he could Google this. He could ask to borrow Hikaru or Daichi's, but then he'd have to clear his search history and that might seem suspicious. He simply sipped his tea and munched on some fries, hoping to make some sense of this all.

Gotsumon ate more of his fries. "Well, the new line of Digivices are coming out soon anyway, so at least when you guys finally get yours, they'll be improved," he pointed out. "Which brand are you guys aiming for?"

"Well, Vector Corp is pretty good, but at this stage of the game, nothing beats Akimoto Industries," said Ross. He quickly glanced at Naota to see if he was doing okay, as if one little mention of the family could send him spiraling over the edge. Honestly if that were the case Naota would be breaking down every five minutes. The Akimotos were everywhere.

"My dad's pretty much a loyal Vector Corp shopper," Yuki said with a sigh. "I keep telling him that Akimoto Industries is better, but he never listens." He stood up. "Anyway, I need to go pee, be back in a minute."

Everybody finished their meals quickly after that. Naota watched Kotemon with a nervous apprehension. He hadn't eaten anything and hadn't said a word. He wanted to say something, but perhaps Kotemon and the other Naota didn't get along too well. Biting back his anxieties, Naota finally opened up to speak. "Hey, Kotemon, thanks for earlier. You and Elecmon really saved the day."

Kotemon glanced at Naota but didn't say anything. Ham let out a big sigh. "Oh come on, man, Naota's thanking you. You should be nicer to him."

"You are welcome, Naota." Kotemon said before returning to silence.

When Yuki finished up, the group decided to go their separate ways. Ham and Ross insisted on following Daichi's car closely in case Lynxmon attacked, but Naota insisted it would be fine. He just wanted to get home as quickly as possible. Daichi protested that the idea was a good one, there was safety in numbers, but Naota pointed out that people were looking for Lynxmon and he'd be caught sooner or later.

Daichi drove carefully with Gotsumon in the front seat and Hikaru, Elecmon, and Naota in the back. Naota rolled the window down and stared out at the passing sights. This city was so obviously Crossfield, yet things were obviously different. It was hard to draw a concrete line between "same" and "not the same." He thought of the young man driving him as his brother and the young girl at his side as his cousin, but were they really? Or were they just the relatives of some other Naota?

"Naota, I know a lot's been going on lately," said Hikaru, "but you can tell us what's going on. You know that right?" She put her hand on his shoulder. Elecmon climbed into his lap as if to comfort him. "You've been acting strange ever since we found you, like you're hiding something."

Naota wanted to put Elecmon, but wasn't sure if that crossed any boundaries of appropriateness. These Digimon seemed more like comrades than pets. "I'm just feeling a little confused. I wish I knew what was going on."

"Don't worry about it," said Daichi. "I'm sure it'll come back to you in time. You probably just hit your head. Actually, come to think of it, maybe we should take you to a doctor." His face twisted in concern. "Yeah, we really should," he said as he kept driving.

Naota wanted to protest but didn't bother. He simply stared out the window and breathed deeply. He kept watching the buildings passing by. They weren't _that _different from the buildings back home.

The car slowed down and Daichi sighed. "Man, I hate traffic," he moaned. Gazing up ahead he scrunched his face in confusion. "I wonder what's going on." He saw a cop directing everyone to take a detour. "Must have been some sort of accident," he mumbled. He put his hands behind his head and waited.

It didn't take long before the traffic speed picked up and cars began moving quickly again. Naota watched the traffic cop nervously touching a strange rectangular device at her side. She turned to a Digimon standing beside her, a small red insect of some sort. She flew into the air as if to keep a lookout.

Anxious to make up for lost time, most of the cars went over the speed limit, and Daichi hit the gas to join them. Naota stared out the back of the car, wondering what kind of accident had occurred. "Do you think this was because of Lynxmon?" He asked.

Elecmon shook his head. "Probably just an ordinary accident."

"Yeah, don't worry about it, Naota," said Gotsumon. And if Lynxmon is nearby, then that'll just make it easier for the authorities to catch him and lock him up." Naota wondered how you locked up a giant flaming cat, but didn't ask. He just prayed that everybody was right and it would happen soon. He sniffed the air. "Does anybody smell something burning?"

That's when he saw Lynxmon rounding the corner. "Hey Daichi, hit the gas!" Elecmon yelped.

Daichi turned to see what was wrong and he swore loudly. "Hey everybody, hold on tight." He hit the gas pedal, trying to outrun the monster. He came to a corner and turned down an empty back road while other cars went straight. Naota watched the other drivers speeding off in fear, they'd seen Lynxmon as well.

Hikaru quickly dialed 911 to inform the operator about the Lynxmon, who informed her that the authorities were on their way. Naota breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully the traffic cop would be able to help.

Lynxmon bounded over the car in a single leap and landed in front of them. "Shit!" Daichi swore as he tried to swerve, crashing his car into an empty building. Elecmon let out a yelp as the impact tossed him through the windshield, it shattered loudly but he rolled through the air and landed on the ground facing the flaming cat. Hikaru let out a yelp as her seatbelt dug into her body. Naota screamed as his arm slammed into the seat in front of him with a sickening crack.

"Looks like I've finally found you, oh tasty one." Lynxmon laughed.

Naota whimpered in pain. Daichi tried to get the car in reverse, but it wouldn't move. Smoke poured from the engine. "Okay, everybody get out, if that thing attacks us we're sitting ducks." Daichi turned to Hikaru and Naota. "I want you two to run. I can try to hold him off for a little bit, the cops should be here soon enough."

Naota whimpered as tears poured down his eyes. His arm hurt more than he cared to say. Hikaru noticed and helped him get his seatbelt off before removing her own. They all exited the car as a fireball soared through the broken windshield and set it ablaze. They retreated a safe distance before it blew up.

"You can't run now," Lynxmon taunted.

Daichi growled. "Leave my brother alone or I swear to Yggdrasil I'll delete you." Turning to his partner, he smiled. "Give him Hell, Gotsumon."

Gotsumon smirked. "Rock Fist!" He summoned a horde of rocks to hurl at Lynxmon, but the cat merely laughed as they pelted his hide ineffectively. It was like throwing ping pong balls at a lion. You weren't inflicting any damage, just annoying your target.

"Sparkling Thunder!" Elecmon cried out.

"Howling Buster!" Fire and lightning met in midair and exploded with enough force to push everyone back. Lynxmon charged forward and took a running leap toward Naota, landing mere inches from his face. Naota could smell his horrid breath. It reminded him of rotten meat.

"Get away from him!" Daichi growled as he charged toward Lynxmon.

Elecmon and Gotsumon both tackled Lynxmon, but he simply knocked the two Rookies away. Naota backed into a wall, whimpering in fear as Lynxmon stared into his eyes. "Yes, there's something special about you. I can sense it."

"Tentomon Digivolve to-" Naota turned to see the traffic cop racing toward him. She had dark brown skin and curly black hair. She held tightly to a rectangular device as it glowed with light. Her insect partner began glowing as well.

"Kabuterminon!" The tiny insect had grown to be just above a human in size. Her skin turned blue as she grew two long arms and four wings, and a head like a beetle's. Naota watched with awe. So that must have been a Digivice and this was the power of Digivolution. "Electro Shocker!" A ball of electricity sailed through the air and knocked Lynxmon back. He roared out in pain as electricity coursed through his body.

"Thank you," Naota said to the Kabuterminon.

"No problem kid."

Hikaru ran to the officer's side. "Thanks for getting here so fast, I was starting to worry we'd have to fight all by ourselves." She turned to Elecmon. "Hey, don't let up."

"Don't worry," said the Kabuterimon. "Elly and I have this. And backup is arriving soon. You kids can rest easy now." Electricity cackled through her horn. She stabbed Lynxmon causing him to howl out in pain.

"Wild Nail Claws!" Lynxmon tore into Kabuterimon's shoulder and slashed across her chest. "Howling Buster!" He followed with a large fireball that knocked Kabuterimon out of the sky. She landed with a thud and left a small crater in the ground, but she refused to stay down for long.

"You've been hurting innocent people and that won't be tolerated," Elly cried out. "Now hurry up and turn yourself in or we'll have to turn you into an egg!" She warned. It sounded like an odd threat to Naota, but he simply added it to the list of this world's oddities.

"Howling Buster!" A fiery wave of energy shot forward.

"Electro Shocker!" A cackling ball of electricity met it. This resulted in yet another explosion.

"Wild Nail Claws!" Lynxmon jumped through the smoke, his flames burning brighter than ever before. He sliced into Kabuterimon's side and pinned her down, sinking his fangs into her throat. Kabuterimon cried out in pain. She tried to resist, but Lynxmon overpowered her with brute force, pushing her down harder every time she tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

"STOP IT!" Screamed Naota, tears forming in his eyes. "If you're really so hungry can't you just go to a store and rob the meat department? What's so special about me anyway?"

"This isn't about sustenance or nourishment anymore, fool. It's about power." Lynxmon lifted his paw and brought it down, delivering one final blow to Kabuterimon's head. In a flash of light she reverted to her prior form.

"I'm sorry Elly," Tentomon cried.

Elly grabbed her Digivice and spoke into it. "Attention all units, this is Elly Springhart, requesting immediate backup. I repeat requesting immediate back up. My partner is down and there are injured civilians here, I can't hold off the rogue Digimon for long." She quickly drew her gun. "Now what do you say?"

Lynxmon roared as he charged toward Elly, but she fired quickly, firing a bullet through Lynxmon's chest and another through his head. He roared out in pain and stumbled backward, allowing Naota to get away.

"You'll pay for that." Lynxmon let out an angry roar as his fur stood on end and his flames grew brighter. He cackled as he took a step forward. "HOWLING BUSTER!" Burning hot flames raced toward the officer who could do nothing to protect herself.

Luckily, she didn't have to.

A wall of light materialized before the flames could reach her. It held off the attack as flames licked against it. Lynxmon raised a claw and swiped at the light, but could do nothing to get passed it.

"Sorry, but you'll have to try something harder than that," said a feminine voice.

Naota turned, wondering what kind of Digimon could have possibly blocked an attack like that. But it wasn't a Digimon. It was a human girl.


	3. Meltyrosh

**Author's Notes: Hazuki, better known as Hazuki/Zer0 (Pronounced Hazuki over Zayro) is a character I use often. She is a singer who is well loved and has many pop hits. Sometimes she just makes songs in a story, sometimes she appears as a character herself. I wanted to write the lyrics for Meltryosh, just for fun. I know they aren't the best but I think they'll fit.**

**The word Meltryosh is **_**entirely**_** nonsensical and has absolutely **_**no meaning.**_

**Meltryosh**

(Meltryosh)

Standing here in the fading light  
The world's going down swinging  
And if I stood alone I'd fall so hard  
But your friendship is all I need

Standing here where the world divides  
My hands are trembling as I reach for the door  
But I'll dig up the courage inside my heart  
And say hello to a new world (Meltryosh)

So let's stand side by side in the blazing flames  
The nightmare won't last forever  
The world falls apart but I know in my heart  
That we're gonna make it together  
And here where the rules bend at whims of a God  
A game where we don't know the rules  
One mistake could be all it takes to lose  
But I'll be okay because I know I have you

I know in my deepest fantasy  
I've seen the wrongs of this world set right  
Hand in hand together we'll fix this mess  
So we're gonna stand up and fight

As cliché as it sounds  
Trust my sincerity please  
If we can stand together  
We can do anything

So let's stand side by side in the blazing flames (Meltryosh)  
The nightmare won't last forever  
The world falls apart but I know in my heart (Hsoyrtlem)  
That we're gonna make it together  
And here where the rules bend at whims of a God  
A game where we don't know the rules (Meltryosh)  
One mistake could be all it takes to lose  
But I'll be okay because I know I have you (Meltryosh)

So now in the glow of twilight  
When it all could come falling apart  
We're standing up to defend our dreams  
With the strength that's in our hearts

Meltryosh  
(Dne eht erew siht fI)  
(Thgif dna pu dnats llits d'I)  
As it's tearing up at the seams  
We could lose everything  
(Em ni tsurt esaelp)  
Meltryosh  
We could lose everything  
Tearing up at the seams  
(Edis ym ta uoy htiw pu evig t'now I)  
For everyone who means the world to me  
I swear to the stars above  
To save the world we love

So let's stand side by side in the blazing flames (Meltryosh)  
The nightmare won't last forever  
The world falls apart but I know in my heart (Hsoyrtlem)  
That we're gonna make it together  
And here where the rules bend at whims of a God  
A game where we don't know the rules (Hsoyrtlem)  
One mistake could be all it takes to lose  
But I'll be okay because I know I have you (Meltryosh)

Meltryosh  
(Dne eht erew siht fI)  
(Thgif dna pu dnats llits d'I)  
As it's tearing up at the seams  
We could lose everything  
(Em ni tsurt esaelp)  
Meltryosh  
We could lose everything  
Tearing up at the seams  
(Edis ym ta uoy htiw pu evig t'now I)  
For everyone who means the world to me  
I swear to the stars above  
To save the world we love

So let's stand side by side in the blazing flames (Meltryosh)  
The nightmare won't last forever  
The world falls apart but I know in my heart (Hsoyrtlem)  
That we're gonna make it together  
And here where the rules bend at whims of a God  
A game where we don't know the rules (Hsoyrtlem)  
One mistake could be all it takes to lose  
But I'll be okay because I know I have you (Meltryosh)

So let's stand side by side in the blazing flames  
The nightmare won't last forever  
The world falls apart but I know in my heart  
That we're gonna make it together  
And here where the rules bend at whims of a God  
A game where we don't know the rules  
One mistake could be all it takes to lose  
But I'll be okay because I know I have you

Meltryosh  
If this were the end  
I'd still stand up and fight  
As it's tearing up at the seams  
We could lose everything  
Please trust me  
Meltryosh  
We could lose everything  
Tearing up at the seams  
I won't give up with you at my side  
For everyone who means the world to me  
I swear to the stars above  
I swear to the stars above  
I swear to the stars above  
To save the world we love


	4. Infection

**Author's Notes: Due to poor financial conditions, I have to pawn my laptop quite often, which, sadly, means I can't update as often as I'd like. But anyway, please enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, there'd be more Guilmon based Digimon. Like SaintGuilmon. And a GeoGrowlmon. A GeoGrowlmon would be cool. Also there'd be a Digimon series with a bisexual autistic transgender female lead and she would have a gay best friend and it would be awesome. Oh and she'd be a cheerleader.**

The silver haired boy smirked as he stepped into the mansion. A red carpet spanned out to cover most of the floor and curtains hung from the windows. A grand spiraling staircase led to the upper floor, while a door in the stair case led to an inner room, where a second staircase led to the basement library.

A small section of the floor lay exposed with no carpet to cover it, revealing a glass floor. Gazing through it you could see the river that ran beneath the grand estate. Several exotic varieties of fish swam through, chased by bigger fish and a few aquatic Digimon.

Maids ran back and forth, carrying pillows and sheets, dusting the furniture, and doing other household tasks. One ran past the young boy, stopping only to offer a quick hello. He smiled politely as he opened the door beneath the stairs and climbed down to the library in the basement.

A ceiling of glass revealed the underside of the river above. It had been installed artificially like an aquarium, and would have provided hours of entertainment for the boy if he cared about such trivialities. No, he had better things to do with his free time than fish watching.

So he ignored the fish and the shelves of books and manga from all over the world. They came in English, Japanese, German, Indian, Latin, Spanish, French, and every other language written under the sun. Not that half of them did anyone in the family any good. They hadn't learned every language in the world. The boy himself only understood a few languages.

"It seems my brother and sister have been busy," said a voice in the room. It came from a tall humanoid figure wearing armor. He had long blond hair and eight wings, four were angelic and white while the others were demonic and black. He seemed to radiate with power.

"Good. Looks like the pieces are finally getting into place. Yggdrasil still has no idea what we're about to do. He's suspicious, but he won't be able to put the pieces together until it's too late to stop us," the boy said with a calm look on his face. His emotions would have betrayed nothing to the ordinary observer.

The winged man, however, frowned. "Something's troubling you."

The boy brushed his hair behind his ear and frowned, "sometimes I hate how perceptive you can be, Lucemon. I messed up. From now on out, we're going to be walking a tight rope."

"Who cares about a tight rope when you have wings?"

**Chapter Two**

A slender girl stood tall with crossed arms and a fierce grin on her face. She looked thin and almost elf like, with light skin and long blonde hair. She wore a black leather jacket over a red shirt and simple jeans. "Heh, just a Champion. This isn't even going to be a challenge. Kidd let's take him down, collect the bounty, and go get some cake." She turned to the Digimon at her side, a tall werewolf with a scarred muzzle and periwinkle fur. He wore torn jeans, white bandages around his arms, and carried metal knuckles for weapons.

"Looks like 'es been messin' with you real bad," said the Werewolfmon, apparently named Kidd.

Naota was almost certain that was a nickname, so far every other Digimon had a name ending in mon. It'd break the rules for one to not have a mon name, right? Maybe it was short for Kiddmon.

Lynxmon snarled at the girl. "You smell just like him."

The girl growled angrily as she swung her arm out, throwing a daggers of light at her opponent. Lynxmon roared out in pain as they dug into his side. "Wild Nail," before he could finish, Kidd threw a punch into his face, knocking him backward.

"Hey, Kidd, we should hurry up and finish this. I'm sure the cop's called backup. We wouldn't want to lose the bounty now would we?" She said as she cracked her knuckles.

"No, we wouldn't want that pup." Kidd charged forward and threw another punch. The air seemed to boom like thunder with each of his heavy movements. He connected with Lynxmon's jaw, then his side, and sent him flying. Lynxmon roared in anger as he charged forward recklessly, bounding from side to side, hoping to catch Kidd off guard. But the Lynxmon was too slow, he leaped at Kidd with all his might, only to receive a fist to the face.

"You'll pay for this." Lynxmon roared.

At this point Naota really wanted to ask if it was normal for humans to throw around daggers of energy like that, but he didn't want to look weird.

"Cheap talk, can't ya come up with somethin' interestin'?" Kidd threw another punch at Lynxmon, but this time Lynxmon's teeth sank into the werewolf's arms. Kidd let out a howl of pain and tried to clobber Lynxmon with his free arm, but Lynxmon broke away just in time.

"Wild Nail Claws!" Lynxmon cried out. He tore into Kidd's side, and Kidd reeled in pain before bringing a fist down on Lynxmon's head.

Naota cringed as a sharp pain ran through his arm. Kabuterimon went down rather quickly but Lynxmon seemed to be taking quite a beating. Kidd seemed to be getting a few licks of his own, but Naota had no idea how long he could last. If only the backup would get here soon.

Kidd lifted Lynxmon by his front legs and tossed him back through the air. Lynxmon landed with a thud and skidded across the street before rising up to his paws. The two Digimon raced toward each other and Lynxmon attempted to close the gap with a running leap. Kidd jumped up and grabbed onto a light pole, swinging his body forward to bury his feet deep into Lynxmon's ribs. The cat roared in pain as Kidd let go and pursued his prey through the air, connecting with a fist to Lynxmon's mouth.

"Howling Bu," Lynxmon found his attack interrupted by another fist to the face. He spat angrily at Kidd and snarled a low guttural sound from the back of his throat. "You'll pay for that." He swiped at Kidd again, ducked under the werewolf's fist, and head-butted him in the stomach, pushing him back a little. "Howling Bust," he couldn't finish this attack either. The blonde girl held her hand out and sent another storm of daggers flying at him.

She turned to Naota and frowned as she examined his arm. "That looks like it hurts, don't worry, I'm sure an ambulance is on its way now. "I can't do much but," she held her hands over his arm and the pain subsided just a bit as the bones seemed to mend a little. "You'll still need to get a cast but it shouldn't be as bad."

"Who are you?" Hikaru asked. She moved quickly, getting to Naota's side so that she could position herself between Naota and the girl.

"My name is Loaño Ishida. You can call me Lo. And relax, I just healed your cousin," she rolled her eyes. "Somebody's got major trust issues." She turned her attention back to the fight. Lynxmon managed to sneak in a few blows every now and then, scratching deep into Kidd's leg, sinking his fangs into Kidd's thigh, but Kidd had the upper hand for the most part.

"Okay, but how did you do that?" Hikaru asked.

"I had help." Loaño answered before turning her attention back to Kidd and Lynxmon. Kidd threw another punch and it sounded like boulders smashing when he connected with Lynxmon's jaw. Lynxmon reared up on two hind legs and clawed at Kidd's chest. "This guy seems unnaturally resilient."

Elly gnashed her teeth. "It's whatever's driving them to this. Scientists think it's a virus of some sort affecting Digimon. It makes them violent and makes them stronger. We've had our hands full. It's why that damn bounty system was put in place."

"You don't approve?" Loaño asked.

"Normally, I would never approve of anything encouraging ordinary civilians to risk their lives, but in this case it seems you really saved our asses," Elly admitted.

"Carnage Wheel!" Lynxmon cried out. The flames engulfing him turned blue as he spun into the air like a wheel racing forward. Kidd tried to block him, but Lynxmon tore at Kidd's arms and side with his claws as the flames licked Kidd's body. There came a great burst of fire and Kidd fell backward. Lynxmon landed on all fours and laughed. "Howling Buster!" He fired another burst of flames at Kidd, but Loaño raised another wall of light to protect her partner. "You," Lynxmon sneered as he turned to Loaño. "No ordinary human possesses the powers you display. I think I'll enjoy eating you."

"Rock Fist!" Gotsumon hurled boulder after boulder at Lynxmon, pelting him as hard as he could manage.

"Sparkling Thunder!" Elecmon cried out as he sent a burst of lightning directly at the flaming feline.

"Super Shocker," Tentomon beat her wings rapidly as she amplified Elecmon's lightning attack with her own electricity. The three attacks hit Lynxmon in the side, causing him to spin in anger and examine each of the three Digimon in turn. "You worms think you're a match for me? I'll destroy this fool and then kill each of you in turn."

Loaño suddenly smirked. "Kidd, go for it. 'He' said you can finish it."

"Good, I was getting' tired o' holdin' back." Kidd said with a smirk.

"Carnage Wheel!" Lynxmon rolled through the air, spinning as his flames grew bigger and brighter. They turned blue once more as he laughed with glee. Kidd watched his target carefully, ducking at the last second before nailing Lynxmon with an uppercut.

Kidd smirked as Lynxmon coughed in pain. He dug into the cat's underside and lifted him into the air, giving him a chance to grab Lynxmon's front legs. "Alley-oop!" Kidd threw Lynxmon as far as he could. Lynxmon tried to twist in midair to land on his feet, but his back hit the asphalt hard. Kidd rushed to his side before he could recover. "Knockout Punch!" Kidd brought his hands together and slammed down on Lynxmon's belly.

The cat cried out in pain as a blinding white light engulfed him. When the light vanished, so did he, leaving only an egg in his place. Loaño casually strode over to pick up the egg, just as several police cars and an ambulance rounded the corner. "Sure took you long enough," she said to nobody in particular.

Cops poured out and immediately turned to Elly for answers. The roadblock had been set up when a pedestrian phoned in saying that Lynxmon had been spotted on the streets. Elly and Tentomon were on traffic duty while the police searched the back streets for their target. They should have responded quicker, but something seemed to have caught their attention. Something apparently unfit for civilian ears.

Loaño turned to Naota and examined him closely, her eyes glazed with curiosity and confusion. "Look, don't worry about Lynxmon. Whatever made him go violent should have been fixed when we reverted him into an egg. Sure it seems brutal, but it's the only way to help. And the authorities will take good care of him until he hatches again."

Naota nodded. "Thanks." He looked to Daichi and Hikaru who showed no reaction to this girl's statements. Based on Elly's earlier threat, it was normal for Digimon to turn into eggs when defeated. Naota assumed it was also normal for eggs to hatch back into Digimon. Yet this girl saw it fit to explain it all to him as if she suspected he didn't know. Perhaps she merely wanted to assure him that the egg would be taken care of until it hatched, but that didn't seem like it.

Perhaps it had something to do with that _help _she'd mentioned earlier.

Daichi put an arm around Naota's shoulder, careful not to disturb Naota's broken arm. He led his brother to the paramedics. "My cousin and I are okay," he told a woman with short black hair and glasses, "but I think my brother here broke his arm."

"We'll have to take him in to get a cast. Unfortunately there isn't enough room for all of you, we can only fit two visitors with us. Do the rest of you have a phone to call a ride?" She asked the group.

"I have a car around the corner," said Kidd, "I can take them home."

Daichi turned to Gotsumon. "I'm going to go with Naota, tell aunty and uncle that we're okay."

Hikaru scratched Elecmon behind the ear. "You be good now." She turned to Loaño. "Thanks for everything. We'd be dead if it weren't for you."

Loaño frowned. "I have a feeling this won't be the last time we see each other. Not sure what your finances are like, but you should really invest in a Digivice. They can really save your life." She sighed. "Honestly, they need to start thinking about ways to make them cheaper, not more expensive."

"Yeah, the new ones with the built in music players are cool, but way over what I can afford," Hikaru admitted. "But anyway, thanks again," she turned to glance at the ambulance. "I better get going."

The hospital stood in the middle of a well-kept lawn with roses growing everywhere. The paramedics took all three teens to get examined. Once Naota let it slip that he'd injured himself in a car crash, they insisted that Daichi and Hikaru be examined as well. They gave Hikaru and Daichi clean bills of health, while Naota seemed fine except for his broken arm. Luckily, Daichi completely forgot to mention Naota's amnesia, so he avoided any lengthy, unnecessary, and expensive brain scans or other tests that might otherwise have occurred. He got his arm X-rayed and the doctors put his arm in a sling.

Once they'd all finished, Daichi called his aunt and uncle on his cellphone. He assured them that everybody was okay, but they needed a ride back home. They told Daichi that they were already on their way, they'd taken off for the hospital as soon as Elecmon and Gotsumon told them what happened.

They sat in the waiting room at the entrance. A huge TV hung from the ceiling for people to watch from the long comfortable couches. A few arcade games stood in the corner, though nobody was playing. Naota glanced at them. _Blast Zone _appeared to be a simple fighting game where you played as a Digimon and fought other Digimon. If you filled up your bar enough, you could Digivolve to a higher level. _Ulforce Rush _looked like a basic racing game where you played as Digimon. You could attack the other Digimon, Digivolve, and collect power ups and items. He had no idea what an Ulforce was.

Naota's arm felt funny in the sling, but it didn't hurt much anymore, Loaño's healing really helped it. More than anything he felt guilt, confusion, and worry. Now that Lynxmon was gone, all he wanted to do was go searching for the other Naota.

Daichi let out a yawn. "Man, I just finished paying for that car. Talk about a kick in the nuts." Same old vulgar Daichi. Naota would have cracked a smile if he didn't blame himself for the scenario.

"I'm sorry," Naota apologized.

Daichi smiled at him. "Hey, bro, don't worry. Wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was," Naota said. "Lynxmon blew up your car because he was after me."

"Well, don't worry about it, I'm sure the insurance will cover it," Daichi said. He rubbed his chin. "Anyway, it's not that big a deal. I'm just glad you're safe. That Lynxmon was a huge freak."

Hikaru frowned. "He said Naota and Loaño were alike, right. I wonder why." She turned to Naota and eyed him suspiciously. "Naota, please, if you're hiding something then let us know. We can't protect you if you don't tell us what's going on."

Naota tensed up. "I promise I'm not hiding anything." His stomach twisted. He hated lying. Hated it. Loathed it. But he didn't trust anybody nearly enough to explain the situation. Well, maybe Loaño. If only he had some way of finding her.

Naota rubbed the couch cushions with his fingers. They felt so soft and smooth. The melodic stroking felt like music to his ears. Finally he smiled and told Hikaru, "I'm sorry. I'm just freaked out. Lynxmon kept saying that there was something unusual about me. I have no idea what he meant." Could he tell that Naota was from another world? Maybe Loaño was as well! Naota's heart pounded with excitement.

Daichi put his hands behind his head. "Ah, just ignore it. Probably whatever was making him act funny was screwing up with his sense of smell. Or maybe he just smelled your cherry conditioner."

Naota froze. Cherry conditioner? Sure he liked the smell of cherries but he preferred strawberries. He liked strawberry flavored snacks, desserts, and strawberry scented bath products. He couldn't see how Digimon could possibly influence that. He closed his eyes and formulated several distinct scenarios but had no way to fact check any of them. He bit his lip, wondering how he could solve this conundrum.

Then he reminded himself that he had bigger fish to fry.

He stared out at the late afternoon sky, amazed at how much had happened in such a short time span. The hospital trip itself hadn't taken very long, in fact he was sure it hadn't even taken a full hour. He'd never been in and out so fast. Sure they came in an ambulance, but nobody was in a dire state of emergency. He didn't consider himself a medical expert, but Naota was sure that most patients usually spent a long time waiting for attention. They zoomed in and out of the place as quickly as possible.

Something was suspicious.

Naota closed his eyes and formulated several distinct scenarios, many involving several important people pulling strings to get Naota special attention. When Hikaru and Daichi stared distractedly at the TV screen Naota dug his nails into his thigh, punishing himself for the wishful thinking filling his head.

A man and woman walked through the door and Naota nearly did a double take. He recognized his uncle Arthur Reinhardt at once. He had golden hair arranged neatly on his head, light skin, and a muscular build from years spent playing Football in Middle School, High School, and College. He wore a simple T-shirt and jeans, much like the other Arthur often wore, but he had a large tattoo of a dragon on one of his arms.

Rin Reinhardt, maiden name Mizuki, was a beautiful woman with flowing black hair, pale skin, and an elegant red dress. She looked a little fatter than her other world counterpart, but she was still just as beautiful as ever. "Naota, I'm so glad to see you're okay." She said as she walked toward her nephew. "Your uncle and I could barely sleep these past few days. What happened? Are you okay?"

Naota nodded. "I'm fine."

"Daichi said you don't remember anything about the past few days," Arthur said. "Did you tell the doctors? Maybe they can figure something out."

"I just want to go home," Naota told him. "I'm exhausted."

"Of course," said his uncle. "Come on, let's get you home. Everyone misses you."

Naota wondered how crowded it would be sharing the room with Daichi, Dan, and a bunch of Digimon. He hoped the Digimon were at least tidier than the humans. He loved his brother and cousin. The dirty athletic supporters on the floor, however, he could do without.

The ride home was peaceful. Arthur and Rin talked about how happy they were to have him back and how they'd never be able to live without him. Naota tried to smile. He couldn't take his mind off of anything. His thoughts raced around as uncontrollable as a swarm of bugs.

_Digimon. The hospital. Lynxmon. Loaño. _He couldn't even remember how many mysteries he wanted to solve or which ones he wanted to solver first. _The other Naota. _No, that would have to wait. It was starting to get late, the sun was hanging in the sky casting an orange glow upon the world. He'd have to wait until tomorrow to go searching for clues. Of course, he'd have to go to school first. Hopefully he wasn't too far behind on his homework.

He sighed. Math and Science would be okay, but he wasn't sure how other classes would go. History in this world would probably be affected by Digimon and English was a wild card. He wasn't sure if the cast of _To Kill a Mockingbird _had Digimon partners in this world or not. Gym would have sucked either way though, so he didn't worry too much about that.

"We're home," said his uncle.

Naota looked up to find a house one story bigger than the one he remembered. Naota bit his lip, both thrilled and worried. On one hand this might mean he had his own room. On the other hand he'd attract way too much unwanted attention if he couldn't find it.

He followed his brother and entered the double doors. Elecmon and Gotsumon awaited the group. "Are you okay?" Elecmon asked Naota. "I've been worried about you."

"I'm fine," Naota told the Digimon.

"Hey man, welcome back," said another voice.

Naota smiled at his cousin Dan. Dan Kealoha was Hikaru's half-brother from Rin's previous marriage, though Arthur didn't treat him any differently. Though he and Naota had no blood relation that didn't change the fact they were family. He had short black hair, a muscular build, and light brown skin. In this world he seemed to have built up a bit more muscle, just like Daichi. He wore a pair of board shorts and a tank top. Next to him stood a small bear like Digimon with black fur and a blue baseball cap resting on his head, facing backward. Naota resolved to call him Bearmon until learning his true name.

"Bearmon missed you too," said Dan.

'_Well then,´ _thought Naota.

"Hey, want to play some baseball later?" Bearmon asked.

Naota tried not to tense up. He hated sports and nearly everyone knew that. Did the other world's Naota actually like them? Everything else he might be able to deal with, but this might be a bit of a challenge.

"Sorry, Bearmon, I'm exhausted. I just need to take a nap or something." Naota bit off a tiny piece of his lip. He could ask somebody to grab something from his room for him, then watch where they went, but he didn't want to be a bother to anyone. He could search for his room and simply hope that nobody questioned him.

Aunty Rin smiled at him. "Why don't you go lie down? We'll order some pizza and call you when it gets here." She walked toward the kitchen and started speaking to somebody Naota could not see. "Hey, Armadillomon, we're ordering pizza. You want anything to drink."

"I'll take a Coke."

Naota sighed. At least he'd have his own room to himself. That meant no more mess and he'd be, well, not much better in the end. At least it would smell nicer. And hopefully he'd be able to find things easier, though knowing his luck he'd probably still be losing everything with how scatterbrained he could be.

Naota pretended to search his pockets. "Oh no, I don't have my phone." He assumed other Naota had a phone. If not then he'd be screwed. "I hope I didn't lose it. It's probably still in my room, can you call me."

"Oh sure," Hikaru said as she dialed his number.

"Thanks," said Naota.

"_(Meltryosh.) Standing here in the fading light. The world's going down swinging. And if I stood alone I'd fall so hard. But your friendship is all I need." _Naota ran off toward the song with a smile on his face. Assuming he hadn't left his phone in another room, then he'd just solved his problem. Plus, he felt happy knowing that other Naota was still a fan of the one and only Hazuki/Zer0.

Well, apparently there were two of her. But whatever.

Naota followed the song upstairs and took a turn to the right. He passed by another room with an open door. Dirty clothes lay on the floor and a small TV stood on a nightstand. An Xbox rested next to it, obviously this room belonged to either Dan or Daichi. He ignored it and followed the song to the end of the hall.

Naota found his phone next to his laptop, plugged into a charger. No doubt about it, this was his room. He found a small brown teddy bear, just like the one he knew and loved back home. He flipped it around and fiddled with the zipper, pulling out a small key. Okay that was new. Usually he kept a photo in there.

He looked around his desk and found a small pink notebook with a keyhole on the cover. He slipped the key inside, turned it, and opened the notebook.

_December 12__th_

_Dear Diary_

_Okay, Christmas is coming up soon and I want to get presents for everybody. I just wish I had more money. I mean, I can't afford to get gifts for everyone. I hope they understand. Maybe I could just get everybody 5.00 gift cards to Moink. Let's see Dan, Daichi, Hikaru, Elecmon, Gotsumon, Aunty and Uncle, Bearmon, Armadillomon, Falcomon, Ham, Kotemon, Haseo, Dorumon, and oh no, that's still a lot. Darn it. I'm sure aunty and uncle will understand. Dan and Daichi too. _

_But it feels really bad when you really really like somebody and you want to get them something awesome and then you feel bad for everyone else. _

_Well, my birthday is coming up soon, so maybe I'll get some money or gift cards I can use to buy gifts. _

Naota read over the diary again. _'I wonder if Dorumon was Haseo's partner. That would explain why I wrote their names next to each other.' _Not that he had a strict pattern, but it made some sense.

He put the diary aside, determined to read it later, and looked around his room. He had a soft purple carpet that felt wonderful under his toes, an elegant looking bed with purple covers and frills hanging over the side. He had a PS4 and a WiiU next to his TV, as well as a 3DS and a Vita on the side. Rows of manga lined one shelf, while games and DVDs lined another. He had several box sets of Gilmore Girls, which now featured a pink flower fairy standing next to Lorelai and Rory. He wondered how much the presence of Digimon would affect the story. He also had several box sets of Glee, meaning either the other Naota had terrible tastes or, maybe, _in this universe Glee was actually good._

He turned to his dresser and began opening it. So far everything seemed normal. Other Naota didn't seem too unusual. Then he found a few athletic supporters and a protective cup. Okay, apparently the other Naota was into sports after all. He hadn't worn one since Elementary school, when his dad forced him to play catch with him.

Well, maybe they were required at school. Ignoring it, he opened another drawer.

Inside he found a wide variety of skirts.

Meaning either the other Naota officially identified as gender fluid or enjoyed cross-dressing. He closed the drawer, sighed, and sat on the bed, reaching for his diary. Skimming the pages he looked for anything useful.

'_Playing Little League baseball was kind of fun, even if I was mostly just a bench warmer. I'm still not sure I'll try out for the High School team this year. Justin says I should go for it, Daichi says I should do whatever makes me happy.' _He skipped a couple of pages. _'I wore a skirt to school for the first time today. I felt really nervous. In fact I puked a couple of times to tell you the truth. But everybody was really nice to me. I mean, I can't tell if they were really nice or just afraid. Hikaru and Haseo can be pretty scary sometimes.'_

Naota froze. Overprotective and frightening Hikaru he could understand. But Haseo? Naota nearly dropped the diary as the tears came. He wondered what the other Haseo would be like in this world. Except he'd probably never know. Unless.

'_Ugh, don't even think about it. You're only setting yourself up for disappointment.' _

He kept reading the entry. _'Some of the other students even told me I was a really cute girl.' _He kept skimming through the entries until he found one. _'Okay, Hikaru and Haseo are the only ones who know right now, and they've been really supportive, but I think I need to come out and tell the rest of my family. They love me for who I am, so I'm sure they'll accept me as gender fluid. I mean, all that's going to change is that sometimes I'll wear a skirt or dress and ask them to call me 'she' instead of 'he' right? _

_It should be so simple, but I'm still really scared. I wonder what dad would say. He already hated me because I was never the son he wanted.'_

Naota slammed the book shut. He did not want to think about his father right now. He didn't want to think about his family at all. He turned on his laptop, drummed his fingers impatiently, and logged onto the internet as soon as he could. He Googled Digimon on Wikipedia and began reading as much as he could.

Digimon were first created around the same time as the internet. They lived in the Digital World and humans observed them from the safety of the computer screens. The Digital World lived at an accelerated rate. Ten years to the Digital World passed for every day in the human world. Then, after a year of everything going smoothly, there was a problem.

The Digital World Program seemed to crash somehow. Countless Digimon were evicted into the human world, most with their memories wiped. Those who retained their memories refused to speak of what happened. Humans and Digimon found themselves forced to coexist.

So they formed partnerships. Digimon could Digivolve to higher stages in life and they gained great power. They discovered that through the help of a human partner, they could undergo temporary Digivolutions and reach higher forms for a short period of time. This allowed many Digimon to advance as far as the Champion Stage, though only a few could advance farther.

Akimoto Industries and their number one rival, Vector Corp, began producing items known as Digivices, which allowed humans to help their partners Digivolve more easily. Reaching Champion was easy, though reaching the stages beyond still required some effort.

They also released several programs called Digieggs, which could be purchased and downloaded to Digivices. These were based on ancient Digieggs and, though not as powerful as the original Digieggs, they could allow any human to easily Armor Digivolve their partner into an Armor form, requiring even less effort than a standard Digivolution.

Things seemed peaceful between the humans and Digimon, for only a few Digimon ever sought to cause trouble. But that had changed recently when Digimon began growing violent. Some scientists suspected a bug or virus at work. But the research was inconclusive.

Naota closed Chrome and sighed. That was as much information as he could retain for the moment. He began searching his room again, and found the other Naota's copy of _To Kill a Mockingbird. _It was written long ago, 1960 according to the publishing info. Just before the time Digimon were starting to enter the human world.

Thankfully, the book was Digimon free.

With one worry out of his mind, he put the book aside and grabbed his Vita. Maybe he could relax and take his mind off things, like Haseo. He turned it on and found that other Naota was playing the same game that he was plying back home, Shinigami Conglomerate's_ Converging Hearts._

Except this was the version with Digimon, of course.

In the original you controlled a young character from one of three choices, male, female, or non-binary, and you found yourself in a world on the verge of destruction. Over ninety percent of the world's population fell victim to a virus that drove them toward violence. You possessed the power to enter their minds and fight the virus. By freeing optional NPCs you altered the flow of each of the game's chapters. Most NPCs didn't affect the overall plot much, just a few changes here and there, though some would change the bigger picture. But saving each person also gave you a new ability or stat boost. There were no levels, only this.

Apparently in the other world's version, you fought alongside a Digimon partner as well. And in addition to stat boosts and abilities, you unlocked new DIgivolutions.

Both Naotas had selected the male NPC, not for any particular reason, as they both played as girls and non-binary characters just as often. Or at least, Naota did. He assumed the other one did as well. He noticed that the other Naota had entered the same name for his character. _Fletcher._

Naota sighed guiltily. He wanted to go home and play his copy of the game. They were both in the around the same spot, early on in Chapter 2. There were so many NPCs to save. Saving half of them was enough to give you Godlike power for that chapter, before the next chapter's enemies came in and upped the ante, but you never needed to rescue that many. Saving a few in each chapter would be enough to propel you to the end.

Hikaru had already beaten the game, saving only fifteen percent of the game's NPCs. Naota aimed to save them all.

Apparently he had five Rookie forms and three Champion forms unlocked, but you had to choose which ones to use in battle. You always started as a Rookie, but you could Digivolve mid fight. For his Rookie form he'd chosen Hawkmon, and for his Champion form he picked Birdramon.

He played a few fights, discovered that this version of the game required even more precise timing, and turned it off almost immediately. Digivolving required pressing five buttons as they flashed on the screen and you didn't have much time to do it. Oh well, other Naota's fault for playing on the hardest difficulty setting. Not that he'd done any better.

Naota grabbed his cellphone and looked at the numbers. If he called and anybody else answered, then what? He'd be forced to explain an awkward situation. _'Oh I'm sorry ma'am. I just felt like calling your dead son because I wanted to know if he was still alive.' _

Then something hit him. In his world Haseo died on Saturday. Naota vanished on Friday and he claimed to have no memory. Nobody bothered mentioning Haseo to him. Surely they would have mentioned if something happened to a close friend of his, right?

Naota gulped and hit dial. He held the phone to his ear as his heart beat rapidly. He began sweating profusely. He turned his fan on to high and pointing it directly at him. The seconds seemed to last for minutes and nobody answered as the phone kept ringing.

An unfamiliar voice answered on the phone. "Naota, is something wrong?"

Naota gulped. "No. I just. I'm sorry." He hung up immediately. The phone began ringing soon after that as he received a call back. Was it from the person who answered? Or had they told Haseo about the call. He wished he could be sure without having to accept the incoming call. His heart nearly burst out of his chest as his trembling thumb reached toward the screen. His hand shook so much he dropped the phone on his bed. He picked it up again and stared at the screen.

Incoming Call

Haseo Misaki

And he wished he had the courage to answer it.

Naota took a deep breath, slid his thumb across the screen, and held the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" Asked Haseo. "Dorumon said you called. Is something wrong? You usually text."


	5. Friendship

**Author's Note: Okay after this one last chapter of Naota adjusting, I think we can start focusing a bit more on the Digimon. Naota's still the MC of course. But the Digimon will be there and there will be more butt kicking and action and stuff.**

**Also, AA is another character who belongs to Twilidramon. I forgot to mention him before.**

**Also since I'm at it, I suppose I should note that this version of Lucemon has some influences from her version.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. If I did then Chris would have been kicked in the nuts, Luke and Lorelai would have been together for most of the last season, Marty would not randomly Digivolve into an asshole, and Rory and Jess would end up together again.**

**I don't own Digimon either.**

**Anyway this story is filled with Chrono Cross references. Can anybody spot them?**

Fourteen-year-old Loaño Ishida frowned as she got dressed that morning. Her black leather jacket went well with her blue T-shirt and black jeans, and the goggles resting on her head struck a perfect balance between tough and cute, not that she really cared. Her problem had nothing to do with her clothes. She just hated being dead tired.

She tossed and turned until 5:00 in the morning before finally falling asleep. Then the neighbors woke her up at 6:30 with their chatter. She tried to get a few extra minutes of sleep, but it was time for school now and their attendance policy insisted that she not miss more than five classes a semester.

She'd already skipped four. For a good cause of course.

'_Little one, is something bothering you?' _Asked a voice in her head. Definitely not her own. This voice was calm and mature and spoke with great authority.

'_Hey AA, what exactly was Lynxmon babbling about? What does that Naota kid have to do with me?' _She asked. Her lips didn't move and no words came out, she simply thought them and AA heard.

'_I'm not sure.'_

'_Bullshit,' _Loaño told him. _'You know _everything. _You're hiding something because you think I can't take it. And what was up with you yesterday anyway? Why'd you make me tell the kid the egg would be alright? I mean, he couldn't have been that concerned, could he?'_

'_Never underestimate other people's abilities to care more for things than we do, little one,'_ AA said vaguely. _'As for you and that child, I can sense that there is indeed something special about you two. I can't quite put my finger on it, but if you're up to the task I suggest we follow him after school today. I have the feeling we'll discover something interesting.'_

**Chapter Three**

That morning Naota woke up with a yawn. After gathering some clothes, the teenager quietly tip toed to the upstairs bathroom. Careful exploration before bed time revealed that this house had two bathrooms. Sharing back home had been particularly difficult, but this seemed like it would make things easier, even with the increased number of residents.

Naota lathered up using the body wash to clean up before going to work on hair care, starting with the cherry scented conditioner and ending with the cherry scented shampoo. It took only a few minutes before Naota got out and got dressed, donning a pink top over a white undershirt and a blue skirt. She looked absolutely adorable.

"Okay I could get used to this openly gender fluid thing," she said to the mirror. She twirled around, trying to examine herself from multiple angles. Puberty had been kind to her so far, her voice still sounded young and high pitched, she didn't have any noticeable body hair, and she hadn't grown any facial hair yet.

The top looked absolutely adorable. There were a few buttons near the neck but she left them undone, revealing the white undershirt for a cute splash of pink on white that really pleased her eyes.

She quickly brushed her teeth, nearly gagging on the toothpaste, but she managed to finish without too much trouble. She took a second to rinse her mouth out with Listerine and prayed to Yggdrasil for the burning to stop.

'_Well I'm integrating faster than anticipated.' _Naota smiled as she remembered what she'd read last night about Yggdrasil, the ancient God of the Digital World. Nobody had ever seen him, but Digimon all swore he was real, each and every one, as if belief and piety were programmed into them. She couldn't tell if that was terrifying or beautiful.

Naota examined herself in the mirror one last time. Though pleased, she felt the need for something else to complete the fashion statement. So she ran back to her room, threw open the drawers, and searched until she found a fabulous periwinkle scarf.

She ran downstairs, past a brown and green feathered bird Digimon she'd met last night. Naota assumed that she was the Falcomon mentioned in her diary, but she wasn't quite sure. "Hello, Naota," said the bird Digimon Naota assumed was Falcomon. "It's nice to see you've recovered so quickly. I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you last night, but I was away on business."

"That's okay. So, how are things?" Naota asked politely.

"Quite well. The library received the funding it requested to expand. We'll be building another floor soon. Your friend Haseo should be quite thrilled," the bird Digimon Naota assumed was Falcomon smiled.

"Yeah, he really loves the library," Naota smiled. "I'll tell him that, he said he'd be coming over before school today. I'm going to go wait outside for him."

"Surely you can't be planning on returning to class already? You've been missing for three days. Surely you need a day off to rest!" Protested the bird Digimon. "You'll only get sick if you overexert yourself."

"I'll be fine. I need to make sure I don't fall behind in my classes." Naota waved as she dashed to the door. "See you later." Her aunt and uncle had already gone off to work, Daichi and Dan were still asleep, but Hikaru shot a disapproving look from the table.

"You should at least have some breakfast," said Hikaru as she ate a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. "You really should be staying home, I can get you your make up work if you want." She grabbed a toasted Raspberry Pop Tart and dipped it in the cereal bowl. She broke off a piece to feed to Elecmon, who happily nibbled on the treat.

"Don't worry too much about it, Naota. I'm sure you'll do fine if you just miss a few days. But if you over exhaust yourself than you'll really be in trouble," Elecmon climbed onto the table to eat some of Hikaru's Cocoa Puffs, happily lapping up the milk.

"I'll be fine," said Naota as she turned the doorknob. "Haseo!"

She hadn't been expecting her friend to be waiting for her, but there he was, his eyes filled with tears. "I'm so glad you're okay. When I heard you were gone I freaked out. I looked everywhere for you. When they told me you were okay, I swear I was so relieved!" He hugged Naota tightly, but quickly pulled away. "Right, sorry, physical contact."

"No, it's okay, my friends can touch me," she said to him. Naota smiled. Haseo tried to sound calm on the phone last night, but she could tell he was relieved. Now, it seemed, he didn't want to bother hiding his emotions.

Haseo had pure white skin and naturally white hair, thanks to a bad case of albinism. He couldn't go out in the sun without putting on sunblock. So he normally stayed indoors reading all the time. He was very scrawny thanks to that, most of his clothes barely fit. Or at least that was the Haseo that Naota knew.

This Haseo looked like he at least ate a healthy diet. He wasn't muscular or anything, but he wasn't scrawny either. Absent were the glasses Naota came to know him for. Whether this Haseo wore contacts or simply didn't need them, Naota couldn't tell. It also looked like he'd cut his hair.

This Haseo wore a black long sleeve shirt, and jeans, just like the other one, but the shirt fit him better. It looked far more flattering on him. The Haseo that Naota knew looked like he needed a hug and a mug of hot chocolate. This Haseo looked ready to party in the dark.

Next to him stood a small dragon creature with purple fur. "Hang on a second," Naota told his friend. "I need to look something up on my phone." He quickly Googled Dorumon, confirming that this was in fact the Digimon standing before him. Then, scolding himself for not doing so earlier, he googled Falcomon. It seemed that his guesses were right! The bird Digimon inside did indeed go by the name of Falcomon.

Dorumon looked up at him quizzically. "Something wrong, Naota?" Dorumon asked.

"No, I just needed to check my email," he lied. "Except I can't get in. I switched my password recently and I can't remember what I switched it to." Naota let out a moan. It was a half-truth, he'd tried to log in last night but couldn't figure out the other Naota's password. "And I can't remember my security question either."

"Well, keep trying, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually," Dorumon said. "I did that once. Spent half an hour trying to get back into my email because I forgot what I changed it to. Didn't help that these tiny arms aren't very good for the computer. Thank God my Champion form has actual arms." He turned to Haseo. "Speaking of."

Haseo grinned as he pulled out a small rectangular device from his backpack. Naota examined it closely. He knew it was a Digivice, it looked like the police officer's only this one was black and white. Actually, truth be told, it resembled a cellphone. In fact, Naota wasn't sure how he'd been able to tell the difference.

"You ready, aniki?" Haseo asked. Dorumon nodded as Haseo held the Digivice out in the air. It began to glow bright white, resonating with Dorumon as a second bright white light engulfed him.

'_Aniki?' _Thought Naota. _'He considers Dorumon more of a brother than a partner.'_

"Dorumon Digivolve to- Dorugamon!" He grew in size, going from about half Haseo's height to a bit taller than the average human. His wings expanded, going from tiny an ineffective looking to a decent size. His arms shot out and his fur darkened to a dark blue with light blue stripes running everywhere. His voice deepened as he spoke. "You two want a ride?" he asked as he bent over.

Haseo climbed onto his older brother's back and held out a hand to Naota. "Come on, this will be much faster."

Naota gulped as he accepted his friend's hand. _'Well, at least he has a family he loves. He never had that in the other world. Maybe that's why.' _

"What's wrong, you've been acting strange since I called you last night," said Haseo.

"It's nothing," said Naota emptily. He thought back to the last time he'd seen the other Haseo alive.

Naota quickly got dressed that morning, throwing on a red long sleeve shirt and black shorts. He hadn't slept well last the night before and it showed. His eyes drooped as he looked into the mirror. He squeezed some toothpaste onto his brush when a knock on the door nearly scared him to death.

"Hey, Naota, can I come in?" Asked Daichi. "I need to take a leak."

Naota opened the door for his brother. Daichi was dressed in red boxers and nothing else. He had a terrible case of bed head but he looked fairly happy. He rushed to the toilet and lifted the seat as Naota returned to his business. Daichi finished up quickly, flushed the toilet and ran off. "Thanks, man," he said.

Naota put the seat down, washed his hands and walked into the living room. Hikaru sat on the couch watching some early morning TV. She'd dressed in a black tank top and a red plaid skirt. "Hey, Naota, are you okay? You look like a zombie."

"I couldn't sleep last night, bad dreams," Naota told her. "Anyway I'm off to school. See you later."

Daichi walked out of his bedroom, scratching his head as he yawned. "Hey, want me to give you a ride? Just give me a minute to get showered and dressed," he said. "I was planning on meeting Skye before school today. I can drop you off on the way."

"No thanks, I like walking," Naota said as he opened the door. He found Haseo waiting for him quietly on the lawn, sitting on the grass as he watched the cars pass. Naota approached him slowly, so as not to startle his friend. "Hey, Haseo. Why didn't you come inside? You don't have to wait out here."

"No thanks. I'm fine. Don't want to be a bother." He was dressed from head to toe in black. An oversized long sleeve shirt hung loosely from his body. Messy white hair covered his face, making it nearly impossible to see his eyes. He held a book in his hands, though Naota couldn't see the title.

"Oh, new library book?" Naota asked.

"Yeah, _Heart of Dragonfall,_ I just finished it this morning. It's about a princess who gets kidnapped by a dragon and then discovers that the dragon was sent by her future self. It's really interesting. The ending was sad though." Haseo spoke softly and carefully. He took slow and even steps as he walked, Naota had to slow down so that he didn't leave his friend behind.

"I'll have to read it sometime," said Naota. The two walking to school under the gray morning sky.

Haseo, though fifteen-years-old, was a ninth grader like Naota, having been held back a year. They'd been in the same grade for many years and often had classes together, but in high School things were different. Students were sorted into classes based on their own personal capabilities. This meant that ninth graders and twelfth graders could be in the same class. Naota heard that some schools did it differently, but he rather liked the idea, even if having some big muscular twelfth graders in his Geometry class felt a little intimidating.

The only class that Naota and Haseo had together was second period English. Luckily they had a bit of time before class began, so they hung out together in the school library. Though not nearly as well stocked as the local public library, they had a decent selection. Naota looked around for a bit, "oh cool I haven't read this one." Naota grabbed a _Gilmore Girls _book off the shelf. Novels based on TV shows were pretty entertaining but not often considered to be high quality reading material, so Naota was thrilled when he first visited the High School library and found a huge collection.

Haseo looked around at a shelf of fantasy novels. Both boys needed a new book for their independent reading. Well, technically not needed as they were weeks ahead. But still, better to keep that lead rather than give it up, right? Plus, they had their competition to worry about.

Haseo selected a book from the shelf and examined it carefully, while Naota just plucked books off the shelf indiscriminately. They had lots of TV based books including _Sabrina _and _Charmed. _"Okay I think I have enough for now." He turned to watch Haseo putting his book back. The library let you borrow books for two weeks at a time, and five books seemed like a decent amount to keep him busy for that long.

Naota checked his books out with Mrs. Takano, an elderly Korean woman, and then sat at a nearby table. The chairs weren't very comfortable, not like the ones at the public library, but they did fine. Naota stuffed his books into his backpack, while Haseo sat there silently. "Aren't you going to get anything?" Naota asked.

"No, I'll just go to the public library later on today," said Haseo. He sat silently as Naota ruffled through his backpack, pulling out a pencil and a clipboard filled with paper. "Oh, are you behind on your homework?" Haseo asked.

"Nope, I just wanted to get a head start on my English essay," said Naota. He looked at a worksheet of instructions and began scribbling some words. Haseo twiddled his fingers as he watched.

"Hey Naota, I, I really wanted to tell you that I," Haseo started to speak but the library doors slid open and broke his concentration.

Naota looked up to see a blond boy walking in. "Hey, Justin," Naota said politely.

Justin, fourteen, was in a few of Naota's classes. He had lightly tanned white skin, wore a white and blue baseball shirt, and cargo shorts. His hair stood up at the end in a way that looked a tad bit dorky but kind of cute. He was skinny even though he worked out a lot. He played baseball with some of the other guys in the park sometimes. He got along well with Ross, Yuki, Daichi, and Ham, and he had a huge crush on Hikaru.

"Hey, Naota," Justin glanced around with shifty eyes. "Hey Haseo."

"Hey," Haseo said with little enthusiasm.

"Umm, hey, Naota, I was wondering if you could uhhh, any idea what I can get Hikaru for Christmas? Something she'd really like a lot." Justin fidgeted. "Hopefully not too expensive, I think my mom would get mad if I spent more than a hundred dollars, but a game might be a good idea. Or should I not bother with that. I mean, her dad does own the best game store in town."

"I'm sure she'd love anything you go her, Justin," Naota said.

"Yeah, but I want to get her something really special. How about that new game coming out, _Converging Hearts? _Do you think that'd be a good idea?"

"She already has it. How about a book, those are cheaper," Naota suggested. "Get her something fantasy related, with a female protagonist if possible. Doesn't matter if it's high fantasy or urban fantasy, so long as it has an interesting concept."

"Wait, what are high fantasy and urban fantasy?" Justin asked.

Haseo buried his face in his arms, looking entirely disinterested with the situation. Justin gulped nervously. "Wait, never mind, I can look it up on Wikipedia. Thanks dude, you're a life saver." Justin's voice squeaked as he spoke.

Hikaru knew how Justin felt, the boy did nothing to hide his feelings. She'd never turned him down but she'd never given him any indication of how she felt in response. He had never _officially_ asked her out so their relationship was in sort of an odd situation.

Naota turned to Haseo. His stomach felt queasy. "So, what were you saying before?"

"Never mind," Haseo grabbed his cellphone to look at the time. "I think I'm going to go see if they have the sequel to _Dragonfall, _the first book ended on a major cliffhanger and I don't want to wait until after school to go get it," Haseo said as he stood up.

"Okay let me help."

Naota felt guilty, her heart wrenched as the memory came back to her. Maybe if she'd paid more attention she could have saved Haseo.

"Something wrong?" Haseo asked. "You look scared."

Naota looked up at her friend. "I'm just you know, afraid of falling off." She looked down at the ground some twenty feet below Dorugamon. The Digimon flew at high speeds, zooming past the cars below. But he wasn't very big. Sure, he was bigger than before, but he was no vehicle.

"Hey, Dorugamon is safer than a motorcycle at least, and I know you've rode on those before. Besides, if you fall, he'll catch you," Haseo said with a smile. "Besides, we're almost there," he pointed to the school down below as Dorugamon began his descent.

Haseo helped Naota off then turned to his brother. "Thanks Aniki." A bright light surrounded Dorugamon as he reverted back to Dorumon. 'You're getting better at controlling it."

"Hopefully I can learn to Digivolve to Ultimate soon. Dad says it shouldn't be too hard if we keep practicing. Kind of wish we could find a tag and crest or something but those are so rare, too bad nobodies mass produced those yet."

Nobody seemed surprised to see Haseo and Naota arriving by dragon. Naota gulped. _'I just rode a dragon to school. I just rode a dragon to school. I just I,' _she looked around and saw that nobody at all was looking her way, not even Haseo and Dorumon who were talking to each other. Her free hand shook with excitement and she smiled. _'I rode a dragon to school.' _She sang in her head.

"You look happy," Haseo said to her with a smile on his face. "Maybe we can fly somewhere else after school. Any place you want to go?"

"Actually, I was hoping to go back to the park. I went missing there and I turned up there, maybe I can find some answers," said Naota. _'Maybe even go back,' _she froze. Going back home hadn't even occurred to her. According to the rules of stories, such a resolution usually happened at the end. For some reason she figured if she went with the flow and started putting the pieces together, she'd get there eventually. But what if she returned before solving the mystery?

How maddening would that be?

Naota frowned at the thought, but she knew that she did want back either way, even if her home world wasn't quite as spectacular as this one. No dragons, still in the closet, and no Haseo. Maybe the magic portal would send her back in time and let her save her friend. Naota bit her lip at the thought.

Maybe the portal would remain open and she could freely travel back and forth between worlds. That sounded like a good option. So long as she didn't get caught up in some villain's master scheme to destroy the world.

What if she invited the evil Digimon into her home world? The people here could defend themselves, but what about the people back home?

"Really? Sounds good. We can go after school. Unless you want to skip today. I don't think anybody would blame you," Haseo said.

"Sorry guys but I have a test in Science," said Dorumon. "You two can skip if you want, but I need to stay. Anyway, see you two later. I promised my Art teacher I'd meet her to help set up for an assignment today." Dorumon dashed off in another direction.

Naota looked around, there were so many Digimon mingling with the humans. The campus seemed much fuller than ever before. She saw a few shirtless guys playing football with some Digimon. It looked like they'd divided up with humans and Digimon on opposite teams, and the humans seemed to be doing well enough for themselves.

"Hey Naota, Haseo!" Called out a friendly voice.

"Hey Justin!" Haseo shouted back.

Naota spun to see the teenage boy running toward them. He wore a blue sweater and cargo shorts, with a blue baseball cap on his head. His arms were also slightly more muscular. Apparently lots of guys in this world had better muscles for some reason. "I'm so glad to see you're okay," he said to Naota. "I was really worried."

"Thanks," Naota said as she rubbed the back of her head, unsure of what to say.

"Yeah," Haseo said, "Justin freaked out almost as much as I did. He went around town putting up posters everywhere."

Justin blushed. Naota quickly turned away. "Um, so," Justin began. "I'm really glad that you're safe. I got scared because I thought something had happened to you."

Naota gulped, feeling guilty. What if something did happen to the other Naota? How would everybody feel? Hopefully she could find the other Naota safe and sound, prove she was from another world, and then work together with everyone to find a way back.

'_What if the other Naota is in my world? Well, at least it's safer there, I suppose.' _Naota sighed. "Thanks Justin, that was really sweet of you." Naota watched Justin blush scarlet, just like he did around Hikaru. _'Okay, this is,' _Naota fidgeted unsure of how to reach. _'Does he _like _me?' _It seemed so unusual. Justin was straight in the other world, as far as Naota knew. So either he was in the closet, not straight in this world, or else he truly acknowledged Naota as a girl.

Which actually made Naota feel really happy.

"Anyway," Justin said as he grabbed his backpack and unzipped it, "I wanted to give this to you," he handed Naota a box wrapped in red wrapping paper. "It's a joint birthday and Christmas gift, sorry I know that's kind of lame but it's the best I could do. You should put in under your tree and open it on your birthday." Justin blushed even more as he handed the gift over.

"I, uh, thanks," Naota said as she put the present in her backpack. "I don't know what to say." She felt guilty because she had nothing for Justin. Not to mention she was broke. And she didn't want to spend any of the other Naota's money, because that would be stealing. "I feel bad because I don't have anything for you."

She bit her lips. Obviously the other Naota was closer to Justin than she was in her Home world. The other Naota _might _have already given him a gift.

"Don't be silly," Justin said with a smile. "It's a present. If I cared about getting something in return, I'd have saved the money and bought it for myself. I just hope you like it," Justin said. He adjusted his baseball cap. "Anyway I need to get going. Bye!" He said as he dashed off.

Naota stood there blushing. "You okay?" Haseo asked.

Classes went well. Things felt almost exactly the same, except for the fact that Digimon now accompanied the humans to class. There weren't as many Digimon as people, so the classes only went up by a few students, and none became overcrowded. Luckily for Naota, she still had the same locker, same locker combination, and the class schedule inside her locker confirmed that she did indeed still have the same classes. During English, Mrs. Raythrone discussed the essay and collected everyone's reading sheets which kept track of their independent reading.

"Good job you two," she said to Naota and Haseo. "Hey Naota, better hurry up, Haseo is catching up to you." Apparently Haseo's reading habits had kicked into high gear now that he apparently wasn't depressed. Naota smiled, losing a competition like this would be worth it if it meant Haseo was happier.

During recess Naota sat at her desk in her third period class, signed into the school's Wi-Fi with her phone. She quickly accessed her Facebook account and went through her pictures. Apparently she and Justin were pretty close friends, there were lots of pictures of them hanging out. Apparently they bonded during Little League practice, even though Naota was pretty much a benchwarmer.

She turned her attention to her email account and tried signing in again. She entered various passwords that she'd used on many sites. H4m137 failed. H1k412u failed as well. She sighed in frustration, refusing to give up. 4k1m070 didn't do anything so she tried Ju571n and Rh0d35 which got her nowhere. Naota groaned when M41d312355 didn't work either, even though it was one of her favorites on account of being so annoyingly 1337.

With a gulp she entered one last name. Her trembling thumb reached for the F. _'Would I really? Maybe in this world.' _Naota gulped as she typed out the rest of the letters and numbers, 137ch312. She stared at the screen which was now full of asterisks. She bit her lip and pressed enter.

All that work seemed rather silly just to see that she didn't have anything important in her email, but at least she had access. She chastised herself for not guessing it sooner. She nearly put her phone aside when one last idea struck her. She checked her deleted mail for anything that looked interesting. She found one from Justin.

_Hey Naota, I know you've been thinking about Yuu a lot. I mean, it's nearly the anniversary of the day you gave him the necklace, right? But try not to feel so down. There's going to be tons of people in your life and you'll have lots of friends. So you can forget all about him._

Naota sighed. Of course, that Friday had been the anniversary of the day he gave Yuu that necklace.

The ball rang and students filtered in, so she signed out and put her phone away to focus on class.

She sat next to Justin during fourth period, who got into trouble for not paying attention. Normally Justin had no problem listening to the teacher, but here in this world he seemed to be glancing at Naota a bit too often to focus on his work properly. The teacher once called on him to answer a question and he had no idea what to say.

For lunch, Naota glanced at the menu, saw nothing she wanted, and went to the library to wait for Haseo. Dorumon showed up first, his fur speckled with paint, but Haseo showed up soon after. He talked about the new library book he'd borrowed, _Call of Ravenshadow, _the sequel to Dragonfall. Apparently it was even better than the first, but much sadder.

She wished the other Haseo could have read it, but he'd died before he got the chance. Guilt clawed at Naota's heart, making her stomach sick. The taste of vomit rose in her mouth, but she fought to suppress it.

She remembered the day at the park.

The sky turned dark and gray as clouds covered the sun. Haseo liked days like those because he didn't have to worry as much. Sure the sunblock helped, but it was no miracle worker. He followed Naota quietly as the younger boy walked toward the swings. "Did I ever tell you about my distant uncle who runs a jewelry store?" Naota asked.

Haseo shook his head as he sat on one of the swings. The chains were rusting and the paint peeled off the metal, but it functioned just the same. "What about him?"

"He runs a fairly well known jewelry store that he inherited from his grandfather. It's been in business for ages. They make some really beautiful things. One of their most popular items is a crystal necklace shaped like a star. They say if you buy one and give it to somebody you really love, then you'll be together forever."

"That's really sweet," said Haseo as he pushed himself on the swings. The chains rattled and squeaked but neither boy paid it much attention.

Naota sat still as his feet dragged through the dirt. "It's silly. But, there's a tradition. It's a little outdated but, whenever a boy is born in the Yamaguchi family, they're given a necklace. One day, when they're older, they're supposed to give it to somebody they really love. Family legend says they always end up together forever.

"Usually they wait until they're older. Dad gave his to mom when they were in their thirties, right before they got married. Daichi gave his to Skye at their prom. I gave mine to Yuu right before his family moved away. I thought, I really believed we could be friends forever if I did that, but he hasn't called me or sent me any messages in years."

"Well, he's an asshole," said Haseo. "Who cares about him?"

"I know I'm being silly," said Naota as tears filled his eyes. "But I miss him so much. And all those news stories about him and his boyfriend," he pinched his thigh as hard as he could. "Sometimes I just get so jealous of his boyfriend I hate myself. I should be happy for him, right? That's what a good friend is like, right? You'd be happy that the person you love found somebody else."

Haseo shook his head. "Hey, don't worry, it's natural to feel that way." But his face softened a little, not with kindness but with resignation. He stared out with half closed eyes.

"I gave it to him by the slide," said Naota. "I know it seems silly, but that slide makes me think of him every time I come here."

"I understand," said Haseo.

That was the last time Naota saw Haseo alive. She started to shake when she thought about it. She told him how much she loved Yuu, and that she wanted to be with Yuu forever and nobody else. It wasn't like she always felt that way, there were other people catching her attention as well, but sometimes the feelings clawed at her chest until her heart wanted to implode.

Then Haseo killed himself and left that note. A combination suicide note and love confession written to Naota. _'If you hadn't told him that you loved Yuu, then he wouldn't have killed himself. You knew he liked you. You knew he got jealous easy. He hated anybody who came between you,' _spat the voice in the back of Naota's head.

Naota turned away from her friend to hide the tears in her eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?" Haseo asked.

"She's probably just exhausted from everything that's been going on. Hey, I finished my test already. If you two want to ditch class I can take you to the forest," Dorumon offered.

"No thanks, I want to stick it out," said Naota.

So she waited for the bell to ring and headed to her next two classes. First was a simple science class, then came gym. Just as she stepped into the boy's locker room, the teacher called out with a quizzical tone in his voice, indicating surprise that Naota wasn't heading to the girl's locker room. The coach also informed her that, given her arm, she'd be allowed to sit on the sidelines of course.

Gym class usually separated the boys and girls, and Naota had more fun hanging with the girls than she ever did playing with the boys. And she smiled when she saw the showers. The girl's locker room offered privacy. The showers each had their own partitions and doors, whereas the boys showered out in the open together. At least, in the other world they did. Naota always changed into a wet suit in the bathroom stalls. Some guys showered in bathing trunks or wore towels for modestly, while others went completely nude. Naota looked forward to this in the future, assuming she ever came out in her home world.

The bell rang and Naota sprinted off to meet her friends. She waved goodbye to Justin as they passed each other and ran toward the parking lot, where Haseo waited on top of Dorugamon. "You ready?" He asked as he helped her up.

"Yeah, let's get going." She held on tight to Haseo as Dorugamon took off to the skies.

Naota watched the world below them fly by. It was amazing how they were up here in the sky all alone, watching the world drift by. If only they had more time to enjoy the sights. With Dorugamon flying so fast, they arrived at the park quicker than a car ride. Naota smiled as she enjoyed the peace and silence~

"Excuse me, could you please direct me to the library? I seem to be lost."

Naota nearly let out a shriek and lost her balance, almost falling from Dorugamon. A white angel with six wings and a golden staff flew in the air next to them. He had a helmet covering his eyes. Naota wasn't surprised to hear he was lost. How could he see with that thing on his face?

"Just head that way," said Haseo pointing.

"Thanks!" The angel said as he waved.

Naota laughed to herself as Dorugamon landed. "Okay, we're here. What next?" He asked.

Naota looked around. This place smelled so much cleaner than back home. He wasn't sure how they managed it, but this park's trees seemed more fragrant. Children and Digimon laughed as they played in the park. Shirtless boys played football and young girls skipped rope while Digimon pushed children in the swings.

"So, you came here alone on Friday, right? Any idea why?" Haseo asked.

"No, I can't think of any," Naota sighed. "Ugh I hate this."

"Don't worry, I'm sure your memory will come back to you eventually," said Dorugamon. "Now, you were found in the forest three days later. It's filled with wild Digimon, any idea why you'd go in there? Usually most of the Digimon here are tame, but it's still pretty risky."

Naota frowned as she thought it over. "I don't know. I apparently said I needed fresh air. But why would I want air. I had the outdoors." Naota sighed. She loved the idea of nature, but nature itself could go die. "I guess we should just go and look. Dorugamon, you can get us out if there's any trouble right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

There were a few wild Digimon in the forest, some weird insect like creatures, one that looked like a caterpillar. She saw a few Tentomon, including one with a broken wing who scampered across the ground. Once a Lynxmon brushed past them. Naota shivered and hid behind Dorugamon, but she moved by without a second thought. The Digimon seemed interested in her, but not enough to say anything.

Branches snapped beneath their feet. "Did the team explore around here much?" Naota asked.

"They tried their best, but some of the Digimon got a bit hostile when large groups came in. They sent a few people in, but they couldn't get very far thanks to the hostile Digimon," Haseo explained. "Your aunt even tried coming in, but your uncle stopped her, saying it was best to leave this place to the authorities."

"I thought you said the Digimon here weren't too hostile," said Naota.

Dorugamon laughed. "Well, they'll leave an ordinary human alone most of the time, but you get those big flashy officers with their guns and Digivices and some of them get a bit rowdy. I know Ham came in here searching for you a few times, got attacked by a few Digimon when he accidentally got to close to some of their children. He said he couldn't find you though. So either you hid really well or you didn't arrive until later."

Naota bit back her fear and decided to go the most direct route. She turned to a nearby Tentomon and asked. "Umm, hey, have I by any chance been here before that you know of?"

The Tentomon squeaked and scampered away in fear. "That's strange. Was she scared of me?" Naota asked.

Haseo shook his head. "No, that's not it. Something's odd, they keep staring at you, then they look away." He frowned.

Naota felt her legs twitch. "Does this place seem odd to you, like something's not right?"

Dorugamon and Haseo shook their heads. "Not particularly," Haseo said. "Why what's bugging you."

Naota watched the Digimon flying around. "How can you tell one Digimon apart from another member of the same species?" She asked. If there was an obvious answer that she was supposed to know, she didn't care.

"You'd usually have to know them pretty well. But most humans wouldn't," said Dorugamon. "Unless there was something distinct about them."

"Like say, paint in their fur or a broken wing?" She pointed to a small Tentomon running across the ground. "Because that's the third Tentomon I've seen with a broken wing, and I don't think she's going around in circles."

"You think the forest has been warped or something?" Haseo asked. "Not too unlikely, a few Digimon could do that, but if that's the case, we're pretty boned."

"Hop on, no sense walking," Dorugamon said as he leaned over. "I should be able to manage flying through the trees. If we go by wing we can cover more ground than by foot." Haseo climbed on first and helped Naota up. Dorugamon snorted. "Okay, any idea what we're looking for."

Naota frowned, thinking it over. If the forest was distorted, that could explain why they never found the other Naota. Yet at the same time, the chances they could find her were just as slim. They needed some sort of clue, some sort of hint. Naota closed her eyes and bit her lip.

Too bad they couldn't just search from above, but the trees were too thick.

She sighed. There had to be a way. She opened her eyes and looked around the forest. "That way," she pointed to some trees she'd only just noticed. "Look, somebody marked a path. Those trees have chunks carved out of them."

Dorugamon flew toward the trees as instructed and easily spotted the next marked tree. It took very little effort to keep this up. Whoever marked the path had done a good job. Which raised the question, was it worth pursuing? Surely if this meant anything, then the search team would have followed the path already.

Naota watched as the world around her blurred. Pathways appeared between trees that previously left no room for travel. The world rearranged itself. She watched trees vanish and carvings appear from nowhere. _'It's like the forest is opening up for us. Or for me.'_

"Okay, we're definitely dealing with a reality warper of some sort," Dorugamon said. He kept flying until they came to a small clearing. A large tree walked around a small blanket that seemed to be covering something lumpy. He had a scary face and long thick club like arms. He had no leaves at all, his head ended in a spiky stump.

Dorugamon came to a halt. "You guys can get off now, I have a feeling this is where we want to be," he let Haseo and Naota down. Dorugamon turned to the tree, "Hey, sorry to bother you, but do you have any idea what's going on in this forest?"

The tree smirked at him. "You've come for it, haven't you? The treasure." He reared back on his legs and swung at Dorugamon, who easily ducked. "Well, you can't have it!"

Dorugamon jumped backward and snorted. "Hey, don't tell me you're infected."

Haseo gritted his teeth. "Hey, Naota, we should stand back, Dorugamon can handle this. Woodmon's only a Champion and he's not particularly strong."

Naota nodded as she took a step back and tripped over a rock. Woodmon sped past Dorugamon and yanked Naota up by her scarf, choking the girl. "You, what are you?" He asked in shock.

"Power Metal!" Dorugamon opened his mouth and fired a large sphere of metal that struck Woodmon on the back of his head. Woodmon dropped Naota to the ground and she dashed to hide behind a nearby tree.

Woodmon turned to Dorugamon. "Branch Drill!" His arm shot out, creaking like a door as it stretched toward Dorugamon.

Dorugamon took to the air, circling around Woodmon until he had a clear shot at his back. "Power Metal!" He fired another sphere of metal that knocked Woodmon over, but the tree refused to stay down long. He flipped back up and dug his roots into the ground.

"Branch Drill," he fired an extending arm at Dorugamon, but the furry dragon easily dodged with his superior speed, until a second arm shot forward and struck him in the gut. Dorugamon let out a gasp as tiny vines grew from Woodmon's hands and pierced his side, draining him of his energy. Woodmon laughed as the energy began to visibly flow from his victim.

"Hey, watch it!" Haseo charged forward, leaning over to snatch a tree branch from the ground without stopping. He shouted a battle cry as he jumped at Woodmon and smashed his branch down on the Digimon's arm.

Woodmon howled in pain as he dropped Dorugamon and focused on Haseo. "You thieves can't take it. You can't have her, the treasure is mine! Her power belongs to me." He swung out at Haseo, who managed to duck easily.

Haseo grinned as he shot up to his feet and smacked Woodmon on the head. Dorugamon shook off the pain as he descended upon the wicked tree. "Power Metal!" he blasted Woodmon with another sphere of iron.

Woodmon swung and lashed out at Dorugamon, knocking him to the ground. Dorugamon grunted and spun around, smacking Woodmon with his tail. Haseo circled around and cried out as he brought the branch down on Woodmon's arm, making the Digimon yelp in pain.

Dorugamon tore at Woodmon with his claws. Woodmon grunted and cried out. "Woody Punch!" Naota thought the name was strange, but she grimaced when Woodmon hammered down on Dorugamon, knocking him into the ground. He spun and hit Haseo in the chest, launching the boy backward. Haseo smacked into a tree and cried out in pain.

"Haseo!" Naota ran forward to her friend, nearly tripping on a rock. She didn't get far before she felt Woodmon's hand on her back. He gripped her tightly and laughed. He began sucking Naota's energy. Naota felt faint as her body went limp. She couldn't move her arms or legs.

"You're just like her," Woodmon said.

"NAOTA!" Haseo cried out as he charged forward.

"Power Meta," Dorugamon stopped his attack when he saw Woodmon swing around holding Naota's body like a shield.

Woodmon laughed. "Branch Drill," his free hand shot toward Haseo at an alarming rate. Haseo tried to dodge the attack, but his momentum kept him on course faster than he could move. Dorugamon flew up and dove down, blocking the attack with his arms. Tiny vines shot out and wrapped around Dorugamon, once more draining him of his energy.

Naota wanted to cry out in pain, but her mouth refused to open. The world started to blur around her. She glanced at the blanket, easily guessing what she would find if she moved it.

'_Looks like you'll end up killing two Haseos in the span of a few days,' _spat the voice in the back of Naota's head.

Woodmon's face twisted and he let out a yell of pain as he dropped Naota. She collapsed to her knees, her face hitting the ground. She tried to lift her head but could only barely glance up. Woodmon panted and stumbled about. He let go of Dorugamon and bent over as if trying to catch his breath.

"Power Metal!" Dorugamon cried as he blasted Woodmon off his roots.

Haseo smashed through Woodmon's left arm. Wood splintered as the branch broke along with Woodmon's arm. The Digimon howled in agony as he tried to club Haseo, but with his shortened reach he ended up swiping bat the air. He swung his good arm and Haseo leaned back.

Haseo chuckled. "So tell me, who do you work for?"

Woodmon howled. "I work for nobody," he swung at Haseo again, but Dorugamon wrapped his arms around Woodmon's elbow and bent it backward, causing him to yelp in pain.

"We know you don't have the power to warp reality on your own," Dorugamon said. "So who is responsible?" He raised a claw and slashed at Woodmon's bark.

"The forest was warped by no Digimon. It's become this way because of the treasure." He pointed to the blanket. "And because of her." He pointed to Naota.

"What's Naota got to do with this?" Haseo demanded.

Dorugamon threw Woodmon forward into the ground.

"Please," said Haseo. "Just comply with us. We don't want to hurt you any more than we need to. I hate fighting but I won't hesitate to if you force our hands."

Woodmon chuckled. "Drill Branch!" His broken arm shot forward just as well as his good one. He caught both Haseo and Dorugamon off guard as he pinned them both to trees and started to suck their energy. They struggled to free themselves, but could do nothing.

"Stop it!" Naota cried. "Take me. You want me right?" She forced herself to her feet. "I promise I'll do what I want."

Woodmon chuckled. "You, are you her sister? Twin?" He tightened his grip on his prey. Naota heard them gasping for air. She shook her head no and waited for a response. "Your energy if very powerful, but also very dark. I have no need for you after all. You are not the treasure."

Naota felt a chill down her spine hearing a tree refer to a human being as treasure.

"I'll kill these two and leave you to the rest of the forest!" Woodmon laughed.

Naota walked forward and ducked under one of Woodmon's arms. Then, standing between them, she placed one hand on each arm and held tight, hoping her plan would work. Her injured arm ached but she fought through the pain. She felt the energy raining from her body very quickly and she saw Woodmon smiling with delight. So now came the hard part.

She summoned every dark thought she could muster. _Haseo's death. A car accident. Yuu leaving. Jealousy toward Yuu's boyfriend.' _She started feeling cried out in agony as he let go of Haseo and Dorugamon.

Naota dropped to the ground as exhaustion overcame her.

"How is it possible?" Woodmon cried out. "Your energy is so dark, so toxic. I have beaten prey to the ends of their life and their energy has never become as dark as yours." Woodmon spoke in low shallow breaths. "You are not the treasure yet you look so much like her. Who are you?"

"Power Metal!" Dorugamon cried out. With one final blast, he knocked Woodmon to the ground. Bright white light engulfed the tree as he turned into an egg.

Haseo helped Naota to her feet. "Are you okay? How did you do that trick with the dark energy?"

Naota collapsed into Haseo's arms. "I don't know she whispered."

Dorugamon slumped to the ground as a white light engulfed him and he transformed back into Dorumon. "That was exhausting." He said as he stumbled forward. "What was this treasure he kept talking about anyway? And what does he mean you look like her?" he walked toward the blanket.

Naota turned to Dorumon and tried to say something, but her voice caught in her throat. He reached down and tore the blanket off, revealing the dead body of the other world's Naota Yamaguchi. Dorumon jumped back in shock. Haseo let out a shriek and accidentally dropped Naota.

"What the Hell is going on?" Haseo demanded.

That's when they heard a branch snapping. "Sorry we took so long and missed the fight," said a young woman's voice. Naota looked up to see Loaño and Kidd standing side by side. "As for your question. It's simple really. Look, I really hate to tell you this, but that body is the Naota you know and love." She pointed to Naota. "And this girl is a different Naota from a different world."


	6. AA

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Cross. Or Digimon. If I did then this would be an anime season called DigiCross. This fanfic would have been called DigiCross but Xross Wars was already a thing. I am happy with the title I picked in the end though. I do own a copy of the novel Divergent. It was sitting across from me one day while I sat in bed trying to think of a good name for this fanfic.**

**I haven't read it yet though, too busy. Hopefully I can get to it by the end of the summer.**

**Author's Notes: Well, less action than I imagined. Whoops, I accidentally gave myself a brand new OTP with this story. **

The silver haired boy pulled his hoodie up as he dashed through the street, stopping only long enough to slip a package into the mailbox. He made sure nobody spotted him, then ran toward his partner, Lucemon.

"Why not just hand it to them yourself? Or mail it like a normal person if you're so intent on avoiding him?" Lucemon asked.

"I have my reasons," the silver haired boy said with a smirk.

"Whatever you say, Yuu."

**Chapter 4**

Haseo stared at Naota as his whole body shook. His chest rose and fell erratically and his arms trembled. He clenched his hands into fists and dug his nails into his palms. "You're not the real Naota?" He asked, staring directly into Naota's eyes.

She couldn't say anything, so she dropped her gaze to the ground.

"Don't be ridiculous. She's a real Naota. Just not the one you know," Loaño corrected him.

"I don't care!" Haseo's eyes bore into Naota. "You impersonated someone I cared about. You lied to me! I don't care if you're the Naota from another world, you're _not_ her!"

"Look, go easy on her. She was obviously scared and didn't know where to turn so she came to you. Besides, how has she actually harmed you? She came all this way into the forest risking her life to make sure the real Naota was safe, right?"

Naota nodded.

"She was probably just looking for a way home. I bet we only stumbled across the real Naota by accident." Haseo stepped toward the dead Naota's body and dropped to his knees. "She was my best friend! So don't tell me this Naota is just as good as her. I'll never see Naota alive again. I'll never see her smile or laugh." Haseo trembled as tears fell down his cheeks.

"Haseo," Dorumon whimpered.

"Please, Aniki," Haseo whispered. "I just need a moment," he lifted Naota's body up and cradled her head. Despite her death, she looked like she was only sleeping. She had a peaceful look on her face. "Can you call dad for me? He'll know what to do. We need to get Naota somewhere safe and then call her aunt and uncle. They can make the funeral arrangements."

"NO!" Loaño interjected. "We can't, not yet. If anybody finds out that Naota's from another world, think about what'll happen to her. She'll be locked up by the authorities and interrogated until they can figure out a way back to her world and then who knows what happens next."

"I don't care." Haseo said. "I don't care what happens to some imposter. Naota was my friend and she'll get the burial she deserves." Haseo turned to his brother.

Dorumon looked back and forth between Haseo and Loaño, unsure of what to do.

"He's right," said Naota. "She deserved a burial. Dorumon please call your dad. I can call my aunt and uncle." She took out her cellphone, no, the other Naota's cellphone and began dialing her aunt first. She'd probably be home from school now. "Aunty Rin," Naota said with a trembling voice, "Can you call Uncle Arthur and come pick me up at the park. Something, something bad happened."

"What's wrong sweetie? Are you hurt?"

"Please, I can't tell you over the phone, I have to show you," said Naota as she hung up.

Dorumon turned to Haseo. "Dad's on his way, he'll be here in a few minutes."

Kidd patted Naota on the shoulder. "Listen, if thin's start gettin' weird at yer place, yer welcome to stay with the pup an' me. We've got plen'y o' room at our place."

Loaño crossed her arms. "Naota, I know you're probably scared, but do you have any idea how you crossed over between worlds? That might be the key to getting you back home. I'm sure your folks miss you."

Naota shook her head. "No idea. One minute I was walking through an empty forest with some friends, the next I was here in this forest, running from some Digimon. My world is pretty much the same as this one except no Digimon, and a few minor changes as well. Like, some buildings are bigger and stuff like that. I couldn't even tell I'd gone to another world at first. I thought a monster just sprang up out of nowhere."

Dorumon looked at Naota with concern. "So that still leaves us with the question of why the other Naota was in the forest at all. She knew it was dangerous to come in here alone."

"I have no idea. I was in the park on Friday too, with the Haseo from my world, and sure we went into the forest, but that forest was safe. We only went because I wanted to go for a walk. But I can't imagine ever knowingly walking into danger."

Haseo grimaced. "You were with the other me?" He asked.

Naota nodded.

"So, then, why wasn't I with her?" He whimpered as he stared the dead Naota. "Sure, I was busy, but if she wanted to come I would have canceled my plans, she knew that right? Was the other Haseo busy too? Did you call him and ask him to cancel his plans?" Haseo asked.

"No. The other Haseo was, well, without Dorumon around to cheer him up, he was a lot more depressed than you. He rarely ever made plans and so that's why I asked him to come with me. Everybody else was busy."

Haseo started to cry. "It was just kendo practice. She should have known she could have called me. I'd gladly have come," said Haseo. "If I had then Dorumon and I would have kept her safe."

"Quit beatin' yerself up, kid," said Kidd. "Look, there's no point speculatin' about this shit. Some things are outta our control. Now, listen. The Naota you know id dead an' gone. There's no use hidin' in the past. Take yer time to grieve, but don't act like there isn't a Naota in fron' of yer face who needs you as much as you need her right now."

"She is _not _Naota," Haseo growled.

Dorumon looked up into the trees. "Hey dad's here, and he's brought Naota's aunt and uncle." He pointed to the trees.

Naota watched her aunt and uncle approaching cautiously. Next to them stood a tall Digimon with red skin. He had a head that looked part human but part reptilian, working fingers, human clothing, and lacked any sort of reptilian tail. He actually reminded Naota of the red lizard Digimon she'd once seen.

Falcomon and Armadillomon followed close behind.

"Never seen a Gallantmon without their armor before," said Kidd.

Gallantmon got to the group first and turned between the two Naotas with shock clearly written on his face. "Haseo, what's going on?"

"Naota?" Aunty Rin started shaking when she saw the dead body. "Naota, what's going on?"

"Naota's dead," Haseo said as he stood up. "This one is an imposter." A loud smack rang out as Loaño slapped him across the cheek.

"Don't take it out on her, she's done nothing wrong. Now shut up before I kick your ass." Loaño turned to look at the woman. "I can't make you believe me, but this Naota is from another world." She said calmly. "The Naota from this world is dead. I'm sorry. But this Naota is just as lost and scared as you are, even more so, so please don't abandon her."

"Abandon her, why would we abandon her?" She turned to Naota and gave her a tight hug. "Naota, I'm not sure what's going on, but rest assured, your aunty and uncle will do everything we can to protect you."

Naota broke down crying. Haseo scoffed as he turned to his father. "Dad, what do we do? We need to give Naota a proper burial."

"Of course," said Gallantmon as he lifted the dead girl into his arms. "Her aunt and uncle will of course have the final say in everything, but I'd be glad to help in any way possible with the funeral."

Uncle Arthur grimaced as he looked up at Gallantmon. "Thank you, Gallantmon. That is very kind of you. I'm just worried though. If we tell everybody that Naota is dead, then they see her wandering around," Arthur gestured to the leaving Naota, "I, I don't know what they'd say."

Loaño folded her arms. "Of course, once we get this Naota back home, then we need to explain her disappearance. She tapped her foot. "Or we could just have a funeral for the dead Naota and create a disguise for you." She turned to Naota. "You're the one at the center of this, what do you think?"

"I like that last idea," said Haseo.

Loaño growled at him again, then turned to Naota. "Well, any ideas?"

"I know I'd normally want a small funeral anyway, just the people close to me. I can't say the same for the other Naota, but if that's the case, we can just hold a small private funeral and my, her, or, well, immediate family can show up.

"Naota stared at the ground. "I don't want to lie to Hikaru or Daichi or Ham or Dan or even Justin, I want them to know. I want to tell them the truth. But I don't know how to make them believe me. That there's another world out there where I belong."

Loaño tapped her foot. "I don't know any of them too well. But if you care about them enough that you truly believe they deserve to know, I'll help you tell them. In situations like these, it's best to just rip the band aid off and tell them. Just like with your aunt and uncle."

Armadillomon trudged forward and hung his head low, saying a silent prayer for Naota. Falcomon flew up to eye level with the dead body in Gallantmon's arms and openly wept. Haseo said nothing as he marched out of the forest. Dorumon shook his head and offered Naota an apologetic look.

Arthur quickly dialed his son's phone number. "Dan, you need to come to the park quick, and bring Hikaru and Daichi with you."

Naota quietly sent a text to Justin.

Gallantmon made sure Naota's body was covered well before they took her out of the forest. People looked toward the group but quickly turned away, offering them the privacy they deserved. Kidd led everyone to a small black truck and turned to the others with an apologetic look on his face,

"I know I's no' the mos' dignified place to put her, but I's the best we got fer now." He took Naota from Gallantmon's arms and gently placed her in the back of his truck. "Rest in peace," he said gently.

Naota's gaze wandered from the dead body to all the mourners. Her aunt clung to her uncle as she quietly sobbed, Haseo glared at Naota but then quickly looked away, returning his gaze to the dead body, Falcomon and Armadillomon hung their heads low, too short to actually look at her.

Dorumon looked at the living Naota and offered her a sad nod of encouragement. "Whatever's happening, I'm sure you'll be able to get through it. Your aunt and uncle still love you, even if you're from different worlds."

Ham pulled up in a car with Kotemon at his side. Dan, Daichi, and Hikaru were riding in the back with Gotsumon, Bearmon, and Elecmon in their laps. They looked uncomfortable stuffed into the back of the car, but they looked happy to see Naota. Then one by one the humans noticed the blanket in the back of Kidd's truck.

"What's going on?" Daichi asked.

"And who are you two?" Dan asked as he looked from Kidd to Loaño.

Gotsumon and Bearmon climbed up the back of Kidd's truck to see what everybody was staring at. "Is that a body?" Gotsumon asked.

"Everybody needs to remain calm," Loaño told them. She removed the blanket and showed them Naota's dead body. Hikaru let out a scream. Ham swore loudly and fell over. Daichi balled his fists angrily and stared at Loaño.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Daichi demanded.

Loaño shook her head. "Listen up, this Naota is the Naota from your world," she pointed to the dead body and quickly covered it up. "But there's another Naota from another world and she needs your help."

"What do you mean another world?" Hikaru asked. Her body trembled and she nearly fell over. She propped herself up against Kidd's truck. "What the Hell is going on?"

"Looks like we've got one more guest," Loaño sighed as she noticed a blond boy on a bicycle. He peddled as quickly as he could to reach Naota, then hopped down. He had a partner, a blue Digimon with a long floppy ears, a medium length tail, white belly, and a yellow V on his forehead.

"Hey Naota," said Justin as he helped his partner down from the bike. "Veemon and I came as fast as we could. What's the matter?" Sweat poured down his body, but he didn't seem to be out of breath. Loaño showed him the body and he fell backwards, just like Ham did. "What's going on?" He looked up at Naota. "Who is she and why does she look just like you?"

"Okay, no more questions until the end," Loaño sighed. "Listen, I know you're all confused and scared. But we need to keep calm. Something happened that dragged this Naota here from another world. Perhaps it's because the Naota from this world died and the world needed her to fill a void, maybe somebody called her because they needed her, maybe it was just an Yggdrasil damned accident." Loaño sat on the bumper of the car. "But we need to find out what it was and fast, so that we can get her home before something happens to her. I know you're all sad because you lost the Naota of your world, but Digimon seem to be going after this Naota for some reason."

"Not only this Naota," Dorumon piped in. "Woodmon kept referring to the other Naota as his 'treasure.' It creeped me the Hell out." He turned to Haseo. "Woodmon was infected by that virus. And you said that Lynxmon was affected too right? Look, whatever's causing the virus is responsible for Naota's death, don't you want to find out what it is?"

"Causing?" Naota asked. "Aren't viruses just sort of illnesses that go around?"

Loaño shook her head. "There's some disagreement, but many scientists believe something is responsible for the way the Digimon are acting. If Dorumon is right, and the virus is making infected Digimon go after certain people; that would explain things. But that also means you're in danger. All the more reason to protect you."

Haseo grunted. "I hate this. But if this is true then whatever caused the virus _is _responsible for Naota's death. I intend to get to the bottom of this, but I'll do it on my own. Don't expect any help from me," Haseo said coldly.

Naota felt her body trembling as she tried to move. "Haseo, I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Shut up," said Haseo as he turned to Gallantmon. "Dad, I'm going home. Please watch over Naota." He walked away. Dorumon offered the group an apologetic look and reluctantly followed his brother. Gallantmon turned to them all and apologized.

"Please forgive him. This Naota was one of his only true friends. He's taking this pretty hard."

"I, I understand," Naota said as she collapsed and started to cry. Ham squatted next to her and patted her on the shoulder.

Kotemon looked up at Loaño and examined her carefully. "So, what do you intend to have us do about this virus? Surely you don't intend a ragtag bunch of misfits to accomplish what actual well trained government authorities have failed to do."

"Perhaps I should let _him _speak." She closed her eyes briefly. When they opened again, they'd been filled with a strange white light.

"Hello," she said in a voice that was not her own. "My name is AncientAnubismon. Please do not be alarmed. I am merely borrowing this girl's body as a host." The Digimon stared in awe. Pure power radiated from the girl's body.

Gallantmon gasped. "AncientAnubismon? Sir," he dropped to the ground and kneeled before Loaño. "It is an honor to meet you. Please, tell us how we may be of service."

"Please rise, Gallantmon. There's no need to be formal around me," he said. "And please, call me AA. AncientAnubismon is too much of a mouthful."

"I'm sorry, but who exactly is AncientAnubismon?" Daichi asked. "I've never heard of him."

Gotsumon shot him a quizzical look. "I don't know neither. But that power. I can feel it. It feels just like Yggdrasil."

"Wait, feel Yggdrasil?" Ham asked. "How do you feel Yggdrasil? What exactly does God feel like?"

Kotemon stepped away from Loaño, turning his face in the opposite direction. "Something about that light is hypnotic. It's like I'm compelled to obey."

"Forgive me," said AA as he stepped away. "I was created by Yggdrasil as his appointed guardian of peace. Digimon often feel compelled to obey me, though I try my hardest not to make anyone do anything against their will, unless it is an absolute emergency. I sealed myself away in a human host for this very reason, to protect others from my own power.

"But, such a thing is not important at this moment. As Yggdrasil's child and servant, I've been granted with great knowledge of the inner workings of the world. But even I know very little about how Naota crossed the divide between worlds. I can only guess that her presence here is important. And the fact that Digimon infected with the virus seem to want her can only mean that she is destined to be at the heart of this investigation. That means that the people around her will have a choice, either to turn away and walk on with a blind eye or to help in whatever way they can."

"She's our niece," said Rin. "Of course my husband and I will help."

Justin nodded. "I'm not abandoning a teammate."

Ham grinned. "She's one of my best friends, no way am I going to let anybody hurt her."

"Like I'd ever let anybody hurt Naota," Hikaru said with a smile.

Daichi put a protective arm around Naota's shoulder and let his actions do the talking. Dan did the same.

"Then it's settled," said AA. "You will all play your part, big or small. But that doesn't mean you are too throw your lives away. This will be a dangerous mission. I don't want all of you blazing into battle just to0 be killed. If the fates see it fit that you remain on the sidelines then I am afraid that is where you must stay."

Veemon flexed an arm. "Hah, no way am I staying out of this. Where Naota goes, Justin and I are going too, right?"

Justin nodded. "Of course. I can't just let her go wandering into trouble. She doesn't even have a partner." Then he frowned. "But what exactly are we going to do?"

"Loaño, Kidd, and I have been tracking the origins of the virus for some time now. Please, do nothing to endanger yourself. When we know more about what's going on, then we'll contact you," AA said to them. "So far we don't have many leads, but we think we're close to discovering something. So for now, all that we can do is wait. Wait, and offer our thoughts to the dead."

Arthur nodded. "We'll make arrangements to have her buried. The funeral will be small, just those of us who know the truth. It's not quite what she deserves, but it's the best we can do for now."

Rin turned to Naota and hugged her tightly. "Naota, dear, whatever happens don't think that your uncle and I will ever love you any less. And if for whatever reason, you can't ever make it home, please think of our house as your new home. And until that time comes, please let us know if there's anything we can do for you."

Naota just cried.

"Come on, let's get you home."

They rode in silence, nobody wanted to bother Naota as she sobbed into her sleeve. When they got home, she immediately dashed into her room. She threw herself on the bed and wept into the pillow. She tossed her backpack on the floor without looking. She glanced out the window in time to see her aunt driving after Kidd and Lo, presumably to deal with the funeral plans.

"Hey, Naota," Hikaru said as she knocked on the door. "Can I come in? I brought you strawberry milk. I know you're into cherry now, but, well, they don't make cherry milk as far as I know."

Naota slowly stood up to open the door. "Thanks," she said as she accepted the glass and welcomed Hikaru in. Hikaru took a sip of her own milk, chocolate instead of strawberry, and set the glass down on a shelf. "Look, I can't imagine what you're going through right now." Hikaru twiddled her fingers. "I, I honestly have no clue what's going on. All I know is that I saw you dead and, and I don't want to see _you _dead too."

Elecmon scampered into the room after Hikaru, and hopped onto the bed. "I almost couldn't believe my eyes. But when AA started speaking to us, I had the feeling I could trust him," Elecmon gently nudged Naota. "So even if you aren't the real Naota, we're still going to protect you and help you get back home."

Naota brought her knees to her chest. "Thanks."

"As for Haseo, just say the word and I can straighten him out," said Hikaru.

"Don't be too hard on him," said Naota. "He's just going through a lot right now." She gulped down the milk and set the glass aside. "Thanks again for the milk. I really do like strawberries. I mean, I like cherries too, but I like strawberries more. Apparently the other Naota didn't feel the same."

"Well, truth be told that was kind of recent. One day she came home from the store with cherry shampoo and conditioner and said she wanted to try something different. Then she started ordering cherry flavored desserts instead of strawberry.

"It's kind of funny isn't it? You two are so much alike but you are different people. Yet, you're just as much my family as she is, you know that, right?" Hikaru patted her cousin on the shoulder. "So, don't ever feel like you're not really a part of this family or I'm not really your cousin. I know I'm not the Hikaru you knew, but I'm still Hikaru and you're still Naota."

"Thanks," Naota said as she stood up. She grabbed her glass and left her room. "I need a snack." She passed Dan in the hallway who offered her a smile and a polite hello, and she slowly walked down the stairs.

"Hello, Naota," said Uncle Arthur as he walked up. "I was just on my way to see you. Your aunt just called. We wanted to know if you wanted to give your input on the funeral, since we figured you'd probably know her the best. At the same time, we understand if this situation is too much for you to handle. Planning your own funeral must be a frightening experience."

Naota nodded. "Yeah. I really don't want to force all the work on anyone, but I wouldn't know where to begin. I've never really thought about what I wanted my funeral to be like." Naota hated telling lies, but here she was telling them all the same. She'd spent hours debating the merits of playing _If I Die Young _versus _How to Save a Life. _"Besides, I really don't know what kind of things need planning." She sighed. "I think the things that would have made me feel happiest were looking cute. I know it seems shallow, but when you have self-esteem issues you don't want anybody thinking about how ugly you are behind your back. And don't play anything overly sad. Just something nice and simple."

In the end she'd decided that it would be cruel to make others cry just because she felt sad. Naota closed her eyes. "Maybe something from a video game. _Aerith's Theme _or _Words Drowned by Fireworks._"

"I'll tell your aunt."

Naota and Arthur both returned downstairs. Naota opened the fridge and peered inside. Her stomach growled hungrily as she realized she needed food. Grabbing some left over pizza, she dashed upstairs again, only to bump into Daichi, fresh from the shower. His hair was still wet and he wore shorts and no shirt. "Hey, Daichi," she said to her brother.

"Naota, how are you?" He smiled like a clown of sorts. It looked too forced, too strained.

"I'm okay, how about you?"

Daichi broke his smile and frowned. "Sorry, I just. A few days ago I had one sibling. Now I've got two, but one's dead. I'm sorry, I wish I could be stronger for you, but I'm still so scared. What if something happens to you? I can't lose you too. And, and, I know that in the end you're going to go back home, but what then? I'll end up losing you anyway. At least you'll be safe but I'll never see you again."

"If we can find a way to keep the portal open, then I can visit," Naota said.

"No, it's too dangerous here. Once you get home you should stay there were it's safe. Besides, the other Daichi would miss you. I can't do that to him. Stealing someone's kid sibling like, goes against the man code or something," he joked. "

Naota hugged her brother and returned to her room. Nibbling on her pizza she sent a text to Haseo. _Please call me. _She put her phone away and fell back into her bed. She stared at the ceiling as she ate, wondering what to do next. Kidd and Aunty Rin were out somewhere, making funeral arrangements. She hated feeling clueless. She wished she'd gotten Loaño's number so she could call.

She sent a text to her aunt, asking her to give Loaño her number. In mere seconds her phone started playing a _Hazuki/Zer0_ song_. _She answered immediately. "Loaño, is that you?"

"Hey, did you need something?" She asked.

"I'm just scared. I don't know what to do? How does the virus spread? What if a friendly Digimon at school attacks me when I'm alone? I can't have somebody with me at all times."

"You could always skip school for a bit," Loaño suggested. "I'm home schooled myself. Well, it's more like an online thing. I can't stand crowds, especially other teenagers. There's too many bullies and the teachers would rather take their side than actually do something about it."

"Something wrong?" Naota asked.

"Sorry, just lost in thought. It just makes me angry when people pick on others. I wanted to punch Haseo in the mouth," said Loaño. "And don't give me any of that 'he's having a tough time because he's emotional' BS. Being emotional doesn't give you the right to treat _anybody_ like shit."

"I can see your point," Naota said.

"Sorry, I tend to get worked up pretty easily. I actually got kicked out of middle school for getting into fights with the nearby High Schoolers whenever they would harass people."

"You got into fights with High Schoolers? That sounds dangerous! Did you get hurt?" Naota asked.

"Nah. I had AA protecting me, remember? Not to mention most of them were cismen. They were pretty easy to take down if you knew where to aim," she said with a chuckle. "They stopped bugging people after that."

"That was brave of you," said Naota. "But anyway, no I can't skip school. I need to," she wasn't sure what she needed to do. She wasn't really keeping her own grades up. Once she got home, her grades in this world wouldn't mean a thing. "I'd feel like a failure if I wasn't keeping up with my school work."

"Yeah, I can understand that. I disagree with you, but I understand," said Loaño. "Look, just don't worry too much about it. Schools in this world have security measures in place for Digimon emergencies, so no matter what happens on campus you'll be fine."

"Really? Thanks," Naota nodded. "Hey, Lo, does AA really think I'll be able to get back home?"

"Yes, he does. AA may not be all knowing, but I tend to find that he's a pretty wise Digimon. If he says that you can find a way back home, you're probably going to get to go home. I just hope it doesn't take too long. Anyway, I need to go. Feel free to call me if you need anything." She hung up.

Naota nearly put her phone down when it beeped with a text message. Her heart raced as she checked it, hoping it was from Haseo. It turned out to be from Justin. _Hey, Naota, I hope you're doing well. I just want to let you know that I'm here for you if you need anything._

She sent back a thank you message and plugged her phone onto the charger. She collapsed on the bed once more when she heard her phone ringing. She checked the caller ID to find that it was an unknown number. She answered as fear built in her heart. Her palms shook and she felt sweat rolling down her cheeks. "Hello."

"Hey, i's Kidd," said a gruff voice on the other end of the phone. "How's yer arm?"

"Doing better, I can sort of move it about. Loaño did a lot better than she realized. I didn't even need a cast like she thought, just a sling. Uhh, any particular reason you wanted to know?"

"Nah, jus' makin' sure everythin' is fine. Loaño's really worried about you. She's no' the type who makes frien's easy, so I's nice to see her bein' frien'ly with you and the others, even if the circumstances are pretty shit.

"But, I also needed to make sure ya knew what yer getting' into with this. Lynxmon and Woodmon were only Champion levels. There's still Ultimates and Megas above tha'. Even a few _Ultras, _though those're rarer than an hones' politician.

"Listen' I'm no' the type to force someone ou' of an adventure jus' cause I's dangerous. But ya need to know what yer up against. Now, of course there are some Digimon who completely defy the average power levels. Some Rookies can go head to head with Megas, a few Champions are able to take on Ultimates, but those are rare. Generally speaking a Champion is like dealing with a monster outta somethin' like Supernatural. They're tough but nothing too spectacular overall. Megas are like dealing with somethin' from Bleach. They'll blow up a mountain if you give them a reason too."

Naota gulped.

"Now, AA is pretty powerful, though he no longer has his true form so he can't expend his power carelessly. Worse comes to worse and he should be able to take over in an emergency. But truth be told we have no idea how dangerous this coul' get. When the Virus first star'ed, i' only affected Rookies and lower. Bu' I's affectin' Champions now. I's growin', and we don' know how much longer until i' can reach Ultimate Digimon."

"Hey, Kidd. What level can you reach?" Naota asked.

"Currently I'm a Champion, an' I haven' been able to Digivolve further than that. But I'm one of the tougher Champions aroun.' I can handle a couple o' Ultimates, so don' worry too much. Just think thin's over when you get the chance." He hung up.

Naota collapsed in her bed and removed her arm from her sling. She reached for the ceiling and made a fist, wishing she could sort through her feelings. It sounded like going back to her Home World would take a lot of effort. She didn't want to abandon her friends and family there, but she didn't want to endanger or abandon the friends and family she had here. Not to mention things were so much better in this world. She was out of the closet, Haseo was alive, even if he was being mean to her, and she had her own room. She'd very much enjoy staying if it weren't for the Digimon trying to eat her.

Somebody knocked on the door. "Hello?" Said Arthur. "Naota I wanted to let you know, the funeral has been scheduled for Saturday. It's just going to be a couple of people, nobody who doesn't already know. Anyway I'm going to get started on dinner now, are you okay with hamburger?"

"Thanks," Naota said politely. "That sounds good." She listened to her uncle's footsteps thumping down the stairs and she bit her arm as hard as she could, letting out a yelp as pain tore through it. She forgot that it had been in an accident, and now she'd hurt it pretty badly. She whimpered as she sunk her head into a pillow, feeling guilty.

'_Haseo is right. You're denying Naota the funeral she deserves. You really should just find a disguise for yourself. That way everybody can attend and mourn her, just like they should,' _the voice spat.It was cruel and mocking as usual, and she wished she could stop listening to her own criticisms, but they kept coming. _'And stop thinking this is your own funeral, you know that nobody would miss you if you died. They'd feel sad for a little while, sure, but they'd all move on.'_

Naota bit her other arm hard and watched a dark spot appear on her sleeve. She wanted to break down and cry when her phone buzzed again. She checked and found a text from Ham. _Check your mail, I just got an unmarked box addressed to me that said it was from 'a friend.' You should see if you got one too._

Naota dried her tears and hurried down the stairs, flying past Hikaru. She quickly followed. "Hey, Naota," is something wrong?"

"Ham got a box in the mail, he told me to check our mail and see if we got one too," the teen girls quickly marched to the mailbox and opened it, finding a small brown package addressed to them both.

_To Naota and Hikaru_

_From, a friend_

Naota called Ham on the phone. "I just got it," she said as she watched Hikaru take the box. "Did you open yours yet? Is it safe?"

"Yeah, well, I can't be sure, but it seems safe. It could be black market, but it looks legit as far as I can tell," said Ham.

"What does?" Naota asked. She was nervous, she didn't want to get hurt or arrested if whatever was inside turned out to be dangerous. Hikaru proved less cautious as she tore in. Naota heard the tape ripping as Hikaru forced the box open. Inside were two Digivices.

"Mine is red," said Ham. "What colors did you get?"


End file.
